- The Micromobility + Ride Review Newsletter
- Posts
- đź›’ Buying Bikes Online? Consumers Aren't Sold
đź›’ Buying Bikes Online? Consumers Aren't Sold
Plus, subsidize bikes not cars, Hawaii dreams up electric bike program for teens, and VanMoof secures vital investment.
Hi - Exciting news. For the first time ever, Micromobility Europe will feature three stages this year: the Ride Stage, the City & Policy Stage, and the Startup Stage Learn more about each stage, the content, and how to apply to speak here.
What You Need to Know Today
Electric bike subsidies are more effective than electric car subsidies at reducing CO2 emissions, according to a new report. “While it takes a $1,000 subsidy to raise [electric car] demand by 2.6%, it only takes about $100 to do the same for e-bikes.”
Hawaii, which already offers adult residents a rebate to buy electric bikes, is now considering putting up an additional $2,000 subsidy to help high schoolers do the same. A newly introduced bill in the state legislature would allocate $2M a year to fund bike and eBike purchases for students in an effort to reduce traffic around schools.
Oregon held the first legislative hearing for its $1200+ electric bike subsidy yesterday.
Meanwhile, the island of Jersey in the U.K. plans to double the number of electric bike grants available to residents after a successful pilot.
Denver’s wildly popular electric bike voucher reopens today.
Making quality electric bikes more affordable has the added benefit of eliminating the need for dangerous grey-market conversion kits. But rather than offer subsidies, a New York City council member has introduced a bill to ban all electric bikes and scooters in response to recent safety concerns.
A fascinating new study from Europe finds that 75% of shoppers would prefer to buy an electric bike in a physical store that carries multiple brands over other alternatives, such as ordering online.
D2C can be a challenging business. VanMoof requested and secured a capital investment from its shareholders in order to continue operations. In 2021, the Dutch eBike maker generated a turnover of €83 million and a loss of €78 million.
Lawmakers in Paris are ignoring scooter companies’ requests for a meeting in advance of a public referendum to ban shared scooters.
Meanwhile Dott, Lime, and Tier, the same three scooter operators that are fighting for survival in Paris, were just approved to do business in Madrid for a term of three years.
On the latest episode of The Micromobility Podcast, Benno Baenziger of Benno Bikes talks with us about building a profitable utility ebike (“etility”) company with $0 in outside funding and fewer than 10 employees.
The U.S.’s recently approved omnibus spending bill contains $26.7M in funding for trail, bike, and pedestrian projects in 29 states.
Rad Power Bikes’s new CEO says the company had “made mistakes” and would adopt a “laser focus on safety” after a recent safety recall.
Honda Motorcycles is set to launch EV moped sales in India in 2024.
Chinese EVs of all shapes and sizes, including two, three, and four-wheelers, are gaining ground in Cuba as the island nation grapples with fuel shortages.
Layoffs are hitting Tier. The shared micromobility company is letting go of 80 workers from its own brand, plus another 20 employees from Spin, as it redoubles its efforts to reach profitability.
Similarly, the secondhand bike seller The Pro’s Closet is facing its second round of layoffs in four months. (For career openings in micromobility, consult our jobs board.)
Cake, a Sweden-based manufacturer of electric motorbikes, is said to be planning its entry into the Indian market.
Murf Electric Bikes, a California company that makes beach cruisers for surfers, has received an investment from the private equity firm GEF Capital Partners.
Electric bike subscriptions are picking up steam among people who are wary of thefts and weary of maintenance.
A new study from London finds that low-traffic neighborhoods reduce the number of motor vehicles within their boundaries without pushing traffic into adjacent areas.
Bike politics can be more emotional than rational. In the year after a new bike lane opened in Queens, businesses along the route saw sales increase 12% compared to 3% for the borough in general. But local merchants didn’t care. They still complained that the bike lane took away parking and drove off customers.
A recent acquisition by SRAM suggests the bike component powerhouse may be on the verge of an electric bike market debut.
Browse the best jobs in micromobility—and post your own—on our Jobs to Be Done board.
