🚀 Ebikes to the moon

Plus, IFC backs Bolt with $24m, the bike-parts famine lingers, and BMW sees the writing on the wall in cities.

March 09, 2021

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What you need to know this week

  • Ebike sales were up 145% last year over 2019, compared to sales of all bikes, which were up 65%. It’s important to note that these figures, which come via the NYT from the NPD Group, may not reflect online retail, one of the fastest growing channels for ebike sellers. For example, one leading DTC brand reported its annual business grew by 297% at the start of lockdown.

  • Naturally automakers are trying to benefit from the ebike boom. This week Porsche became the latest in a series of car companies, including Jeep, Ducati, and Mercedes-Benz, to launch luxury ebikes.

  • But how serious are automakers about their two-wheeler efforts? From a new NYT article: “‘No car company has had any success selling an electric bicycle,’ said Don DiCostanzo, chief executive of Pedego Electric Bikes, who in 2014 licensed a bike design to Ford. ‘It’s fool’s gold. It can never replace the profit on a car.’”

  • Meanwhile, the bike industry is trying to rally suppliers. A Specialized VP says there are billions of dollars to be made this year, but only if manufacturers in Asia can ramp up production. “It’s essential to increase capacity because whatever demand we don’t supply today is a lost sale.”

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  • Why the integrated structural battery pack might be Elon Musk’s greatest contribution yet to the field of micromobility. “According to the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, there are three key advantages to structural battery packs: Less mass. More range. Fewer parts. This same logic is at work in e-scooter design, albeit on a simpler scale.”

  • Honda, Yamaha, KTM, and Piaggio are working together on standardized swappable electric motorcycle batteries.

  • Lime’s old batteries are being recycled to power Bluetooth speakers from Gomi.

  • As you can tell, there’s a lot happening right now in the battery space. Tomorrow, Oliver Bruce will gather expert guests to discuss how scooter and bike startups can improve their overall energy-efficiency and tailor their climate messaging for cities. Learn more and register here.

  • Electric moped sales for Beijing-based Niu shot up 42% in Q4 2020, year-over-year. The growth was fueled mainly by demand from China, but the company’s international sales also fully exploded, nearly tripling during the same period.

  • Accell reported a 17% boost in net sales in 2020.

  • The International Finance Corporation, a division of the World Bank, is investing $24m for Bolt, an Tallinn-based TNC that transports people and food using cars, bikes, and scooters, to expand in Africa and Eastern Europe

  • Ola teased the first images of the 62-mph electric moped that will be mass produced at its new factory in India. “The plant will have 10 general assembly lines that will be capable of producing a total of 10 million scooters in a year. When fully functioning, the plant will be able to roll out a scooter every two seconds and 25,000 batteries per day.”

The Ola electric scooter wil be launched in the second half of the year in India and overseas
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  • Paris has begun a pilot with Duckt that will see 150 universal parking and charging stations for micromobility devices deployed around the city.

  • Why all sides of the political spectrum should want to abolish parking minimums.

  • Indian micromobility service Yulu plans to add up to 50,000 Bajaj electric mopeds to its fleet by the end of 2021.

  • BMW’s CFO sees the writing on the wall in cities: “We’re preparing for the access that private vehicles have to cities to be reduced.”

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