1.1 Intro

An E-bike is a bicycle equipped with an electric engine, in the UK, you can ride an electric bike if you're 14 or over, as long as it meets certain requirements. These electric bikes are known as "electrically assisted pedal cycles" (EAPCs). EAPCs must have pedals that can be used to propel it, a maximum power of 250 Watts and a top speed of under 15.5 mph.

The e-bike global market generated $49.7 bilion in revenue in 2022 and is expected to reach $80,6 bilion by 2027 growing at a CARG rate of 10.2%. In the UK, the market was valued at USD 0.24 bilion in 2021, and is expected to reach USD 0.44 by 2027. Growth will be driven by new customers coming in the bycicle market as well as existing customers switching from traditional to elettric bikes.

Production is mainly located in China, where the cost of producing an elettic bike, thanks to the much higher avaiability of cheap workforce and prime materials, is lower.

The export is mainly directed towards Irland, the USA, Singapore, the Netherlands and South Korea, while import of finisched bikes and materials in mainly from China, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Netherlands.

The demand in the UK is not as high as in other western countries. In fact, traditional bikes are also not widely used in the country, in 2021, they accounted for only 2% of the trips and 1% of the total distance travelled, but new tecnologies, the search of new ways to exercise, attention to mental health and efficiency benefits have the potential to drive the e-bike market upwards in the near future.

1.2 The international market

The e-bike market generated $**.* bilion in revenue in **** and is expected to reach $**,* bilion by **** growing at a CARG rate of **.*% [***]. This rapid growth is driven by the growing need for sustainable means of transport that are projected to slowly take over the use of cars and other less sustainable vehicles. ...

1.3 The market in the UK

The e-bike market was valued at USD *.** bilion in **** in the UK, and is expected to reach USD *.** by ****, with a growing rate of CARG **.** during the forcasted period [***].

The growth will be driven by new customers coming in the bycicle market as well as existing customers switching from traditional to ...

1.4 Export-import

The UK is a net importer of bikes, we expect the trend to be the same for elettic bicycles as the producers in the country are small compared to foreign players.

It's estimated that the country imports around *** million US$ worth of bikes and exports only around *** million US$ in ****.

Export-Import ...

1.5 The effects of the pandemic

The COVID-** pandemic has had a significant impact on the e-bike market in the UK. As lockdowns and social distancing measures were implemented, there was an increased demand for e-bikes as people sought alternative modes of transportation. This surge in demand led to a shortage of e-bikes and related components, causing ...

2.1 The demand: Travels in the UK

The demand for alternative ways of transport has risen in the past years, however, in the UK, the use of bicycles, both ordinary and electric, did not go up as much as in other western countries. To understand that, let's take a closer look at what are the motivetions and the ...

2.2 The demand: who uses e-bikes in the UK?

Evidence on the impact of e-bikes on overall travel behavioris mixed, in general there's not enaugh evidence to say that the purchase of an elettric bike is negatively correlated with the purchase of a car. This tells us that people who are buying them don't use them as alternatives to cars. ...

2.3 Geographic distribution of demand

The UK's territory is very etherogeneous, to get an idea of how the demand for e-bikes changes in the different territories, we looked at a survey from **** by We are cicyng UK. We found out that England is the only territory with a considerable usage of bicycles as means of ...

2.4 New trends in demand

The demand for e-bikes was first driven by a search for alternative and sustainable means of transport, however it's now following some new trends in the market:

Search of new ways to exercise: some people may think because the bike is electric and takes less effort to ride that it's not ...

3.1 the structure of the market

The number of companies that produce bicycles in the UK did not change considerably in the last few years, last year, there was a *,*% increase that brought the number back to where it was in ****.

Number of companies for UK SIC****: ****, Manufacture of bicycles and invalid carriages UK, ****-****, in number Office ...

3.2 The electric bike value chain

The e-bike value chain is composed of: the extraction of raw materials, production of intermediate products, munufacturing of the bikes, distribution and end customer delivery.

To better understand how the components of a bike are usually surced and what are the countries that provide them, let's look at an example. Pedago ...

3.3 Distribution channels

The distribution channels for e-bikes are both phisical and online. The physical channels still dominate the market, with a share in Europe of about **% [***].

Physical stores:

Elettric bikes are expensive, this is the reason why the vasto majority of buyers prefer to see the product in a shop before they buy ...

4.1 Typology of the offer

E-bikes can be classified in two ways: by type of throttle control and by use [***].

The first distintion in made between:

*) TYPE * E-Bike: Pedal Assist, is an electric bicycle on which you must pedal in order to use the motor. It's just like a conventional bicycle except that there's a ...

4.2 Pricing

Electric bikes are farirly expensive, with prices of a new one that range between £*** and £**.***. The price depends mainly on the type of bike, battery characteristics and weight.

To get a broad view of the prices in ****, let's look at the most popular categories from one of the leading online tores ...

4.3 New trends in the offer

The development of e-bikes doesn't focus a lot on the improvement of the engine, that has a power limit that is fixed by law and therefore cannot be improved, but is mainly concerned with improving the battery efficiency and weight. Recent developement in battery compositions and management systems promise huge improvements ...

5.1 Regulatory framework UK

In the UK, you can ride an electric bike if you're ** or over, as long as it meets certain requirements. These electric bikes are known as "electrically assisted pedal cycles" (***). You do not need a licence to ride one and it does not need to be registred taxed or insured [***].

What ...

5.2 National Cycling strategies in Europe

A national cycling strategy is a multi-year plan that establishes a global vision aimed at coordinating policies, objectives and actions for cycling. It sets clear interventions, instruments and precise goals for the development of cycling at the national level. In short, a national cycling strategy ideally consolidates all policies taken at ...