Bike boom, meet ebike explosion

Plus, Voi may never raise equity again, Helbiz acquires Skip in US expansion, and Santa can’t keep up with all the bike orders.

December 08, 2020

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What you need to know this week

  • Three European cycling associations announced a new forecast that shows Europeans are expected to buy 30 million bikes per year by 2030, nearly 50% more than the annual number in 2019. The projection shows bikes will outsell cars 2:1 in Europe by the end of the decade. Leading the way in the growth curve are ebikes which are projected to make up more than half of all bike sales in 2030. At what point do we just start calling them “bikes?”

  • Voi has raised $160 million in equity and debt funding in a round led by The Raine Group. Having proved its model can be sustained, Voi is now able to raise capital to purchase vehicles and secure the financing against those assets. Said CEO Fredrik Hjelm: “What you wanna avoid, of course, as a startup, is dilution. We want as much debt as possible because we want cash to grow because we think we can have good ROI in capital. But the debt market is usually closed for startups, until they get to a very proven business model… Probably you will never write about Voi raising equity again.”

  • The latest Voi round arrives at a time when investors are going wild for Europe’s scooter startups. Many now believe Europe is a better fit for such vehicles than the US. (But on the whole, the total number and value of deals in the mobility sector was far higher in the US than in Europe this year.)

  • Upon analyzing 86,000 collisions, Zendrive found that 57% of all car crashes involve phone use.

  • Last week on the podcast, the head of Bolt’s micromobility division, Dmitri Pivovarov, detailed his company’s $100M expansion plans, including bringing 130,000 scooters to over 100 cities across Europe next year. This week Bolt introduced the new scooter that it will use to achieve these goals. The vehicle weighs 41 lbs—more than the average bike—and holds a battery with 25-mile range.

  • The future of mass transit in America is hanging by a thread but there may be hope for a rebound. According to a new NYU study, transit ridership is not a major driver of respiratory disease.

  • More people than ever are putting bikes on their wishlist this year, leaving many cycling retailers concerned about holiday shortages. From one store in England: “We stopped taking orders for Christmas during September, and are currently now quoting after Easter for new orders.”

  • Indeed, the UK bike market is expected to be worth nearly $3B by the end of the year. Bike sales are up 60% since March, while ebike sales have doubled.

  • Skip Scooters’ assets and operations have been acquired by micromobility firm Helbiz. The acquisition paves the way for Helbiz, which is based in New York but most active in Europe, to expand its presence Stateside. Meanwhile Skip is rumored to be rebranding as a scooter subscription service.

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  • Blubrake is partnering with Stromer to launch the first speed pedelec (capable of going 28mph) with integrated ABS next year.

  • And Bird just announced the first-ever autonomous emergency brake (AEB) system for an electric scooter.

  • Revel is pulling moped service from Austin, citing the city’s deep-rooted car culture.

  • … but overall, the demand and supply sides of the moped sharing market grew by 60-80% in 2020 over last year, according to data from Unu. And in a positive sign for the environment, the vast majority of the global fleet is already electric.

Honda's Shoulder-Riding Robot Pal Aims To Make The Walk To School Safer

  • Link commits to making its scooter operations carbon neutral next year.

  • Ather Energy plans to expand electric moped sales to 16 new cities in India in the first quarter of 2021. The company is in the midst of talking to retail partners and locating real estate for its charging network.

  • Some disappointing climate news from New York City: “Emissions from passenger cars—now the largest source of the city’s air pollution—have decreased by only 1% since 2005.”

  • Tromox, a Hangzhou-based company that makes a mini electric motorcycle, is expanding distribution to the US and Europe.

Tromox Mino: The electric motorcycle you've never heard of (but should have!)

  • Municipal employees in Portland, Oregon, are testing e-cargo bikes to haul equipment.

  • After an incredible 6x rally in 2020, some experts say Niu’s stock price will shoot higher. Others believe the Chinese electric moped firm’s fast growth is unsustainable.

  • Vanmoof’s worldwide ebike sales tripled during lockdown this year, generating 200% annual revenue growth.

  • A new piece in Wired shows how cities’ contentious relationship with ride-hail companies shaped their response to scooters. “Cities generally have authority over their sidewalks in a way that they don’t over ride-hail vehicles. After the first, and sometimes unannounced, introductions of scooters on streets led to public backlash, many city governments chose a new approach: They slowed everything down.”

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