E-bikes may not be just a pandemic-induced fad.
According to data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and the Light Electric Vehicle Association (LEVA)—reviewing import data—e-bikes are the best-selling electric vehicles in the US, with 2021 sales significantly outperforming electric vehicles.
According to BNEF, Americans bought about 652,000 electric cars in 2021, including battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models – more than double the total sales of 296,000 plug-in vehicles in 2020.
Electric bicycles versus electric vehicles – Bloomberg New Energy Finance
According to the report, the US imported nearly 790,000 e-bikes in 2021, up from about 463,000 units in 2020 – ending the second year in which e-bikes topped electric cars.
As BNEF noted, this is lower than either the annual total of 1 million e-bikes in Europe or the whopping 35 million in Asia.
Nearly all e-bikes sold in the US are imported, so the total is a guesswork involving imports and imported components.
Although we usually don’t cover e-bikes at green car report, we recognize that they can help replace a car with a mode that is less congested and has a lighter carbon footprint, for both use and production.
Headquarters in Wisconsin Walk is one of the only e-bike manufacturers to prove this, amid a sea of academic papers. It claims that creating an e-bike nearly doubles the carbon footprint of the manufacturing process – to almost 295 pounds. For comparison, the production of a small electric hatchback consumes more than 40 times as much CO2.
Massive adoption of e-bikes has not been entirely smooth sailing or universally welcomed. The most important, New York pushed back about their use for delivery. And China even has impose some restrictions. Even in the United States, it is not uncommon for e-bikes to be banned on some recreational roads.
Ford E-Bike Concept, 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show
GM, Ford, and Audi are among the many automakers that have launched e-bikes over the years, but none of these have sold in significant numbers in the US. Rivian are also reviewing them.
In the US, is the e-bike a recreational accessory or an aid to decarbonizing the commute? We appreciate your thoughts below.
