E-bikes are now confirmed to be a transportation phenomenon that has captivated riders in the Asian subcontinent for the last decade. Yearly sales of e-bikes in China alone have risen from 40,000 (1998) to over 10 million (2005). The category of e-bikes include both bicycles that need to be pedaled and are supplemented by electric power and scooters that use electricity as the sole basis of its motion.
Nevertheless, why exactly has this occurred? And why is it so specific to the Asian subcontinent? In North America, e-bikes are now looked on as a fad that only dedicated environmentalists from San Francisco tend to ride. But the differences between the transportation geography in America is vastly different than that of India or China.
In America, the infrastructure in place favours public transportation over personal transportation (in places such as New York, not in places such as Los Angeles, where personal transportation is the mode of choice). And the e-bike is a form of personal transportation. Therefore, for e-bikes to catch on in places such as the U.S., the public transportation option would have to degrade to such a degree that users would be compelled to find an alternative mode of transportation such as an e-bike. This drastic change, however, is highly unlikely to occur.
Why are people in China flocking towards e-bikes though? What exactly are the benefits of such a product?
Speed
When a sample study was conducted in the cities of Kunming, Shijazhuang and Shanghai, over 80% of the people surveyed responded by saying that they chose an e-bike because it was “fast”. Speed in those cities seem to be paramount as people want an efficient way of traveling so as to spent more time doing what it is they need to do as opposed to spending time getting to where they need to be.
This is especially true for the large amounts of private couriers that do the majority of their business on e-bikes. Faced with enormous pressure from global express companies (such as UPS and FedEx) and an incessant rise in both fuel costs and consumption, companies such as ZTO Express based in the Shanghai region are now solely using e-bikes to conduct their operations.
Another company, SF Express had to tell their customers that they could no longer get discounts because fuel costs jumped 16% over a period of just a few months. Global express companies like FedEx are aggressive – they made sure their prices for delivery were lower than the local option. This kind of practise is equivalent to what manufacturers called “dumping”, a method of competing in a foreign market by reducing prices, even if it means going lower than costs. Faced with this kind of competition, courier companies found the e-bike to be the perfect solution and have now effectively begun to compete successfully.
Cost
Although respondents in the survey previously mentioned preferred speed, the primary reason overall for choosing an e-bike is cost. An E2V electric bike manufactured by Hero Electric in India costs about 0-0. In comparison, a petrol fuelled bike would cost about 0-00. With a price difference this significant, many households buy up multiple e-bikes and use the family car only on special outings. In addition, petrol fuelled bikes cost about – a month to maintain (in terms of fuel costs). The users of these bikes in India come from lower-income families, therefore, saving an average of /month is very significant.
E-bikes such as the E2V requires no kick-starting, and only requires a rudimentary car wash (around ) in order to maintain it. This is because e-bikes do not come with the problems that plague normal combustion bikes. The E2V requires no lubricants, does not have spark plugs and most importantly, it does not have any moving parts that would normally require maintenance.
Pollution
E-bikes do not produce any emission whatsoever. Gas-driven bikes emit a lot of tailpipe emissions, but this is not a concern on an e-bike, because the vehicle does not even have a tailpipe. This is a boon for residents in urbanized areas such as a major city like Shanghai or New Delhi where pollution is a major problem.
Cars, trucks and buses contribute over 50% of all air pollution in a city (the other half coming from industrialization). Therefore, the introduction of a vehicle that emits no emission is a major priority for health officials who want to curb pollution and eventually eradicate it (a lofty goal, but one that is not without merit). In fact, many health laws which have been passed in countries such as China have prompted users to buy and use e-bikes.
All this sounds excellent and any reasonable person will approve of e-bikes. But what are the disadvantages?
Safety
The disadvantages of e-bikes are few and far between, but one of them is a major deal breaker for anyone looking to get an e-bike – Safety.
In November of 2006, the city of Guangzhou banned the use of e-bikes. Before then, the cities of Fuzhou and Zhuhai also banned e-bikes. These actions came after the recommendations of the traffic management bureaus in the individual cities citing concerns for traffic safety. The reason is quite odd – e-bikes are very quiet.
Due to their low decibel level, e-bikes are nearly inaudible to the human ear and when they share the road with other vehicles, they can cause fatal accidents. This danger is heightened when you add pedestrians into the equation. Traffic fatalities are very high in urban cities in China and pedestrians more often than not, are the victims.
Another safety issue is related to pollution. Now, while e-bikes emit zero emissions, they still run on electricity. In China, 75% of plants are powered by coal. Therefore, by using e-bikes, users are contributing to pollution nonetheless because of increased electricity consumption. In countries like Canada, say, in Southern Ontario, where 50% of power comes from Hydro, the use of e-bikes would be less polluting. Unfortunately, China has a far road ahead if they intend to use clean technology to power their plants.
There is also a minor issue regarding road space. E-bikes generally move more people per lane than automobiles, but buses (such as a transit bus) move more people per lane than e-bikes. The only advantage of riding an e-bike over a bus is cost, speed and relative clean emissions.
E-bikes are clearly in demand, but which companies are producing them? We have already mentioned the E2V made by Hero Electric in India, but what other companies around the world are manufacturing e-bikes to satisfy burgeoning demand?
Let us first examine the various technological innovations that are facilitating the rise of e-bikes around the world.
Toshiba, the popular electronics giant came up with the SCiB technology that allows e-bike users to charge their vehicles in 30 minutes rather than the 4 hours it typically took to charge an e-bike. On a commercial charging station, that time can be cut down to minutes (5-7 according to Toshiba). The major benefit other than the time efficiency is that riders will now be able to use the battery for a minimum of 2000 cycles, rather than the industry average of 600-1000 cycles. This means that users can use their batteries more than twice as long before they would have to change the battery on their e-bike.
It is also important to note that certain companies are now developing aesthetic styles for e-bike users in order to customize their look. This is an important development, because it signifies that e-bikes are reaching that phase akin to popular electronics such as the iPhone, where user-driven customization contributes significantly to the growth and popularity of the product. For example, Tai-Her Yang of Taipei, Taiwan developed an ornamental design for an electric bike and has even patented the unique style.
Other major players in the e-bike manufacturing business include Ultra Motors, Electrotherm and Eko Vehicles. These companies now comprise of over 80% of India’s marketplace. One of them, Ultra Motors, is a multinational manufacturer and recently introduced a new model of bikes called “A2B”.
It is clear that companies around the world are realizing the potential growth in e-bikes. But what are the long term changes needed to sustain that growth? The answer is infrastructure.
As of now, there is a lack of adequate infrastructure in place in markets that e-bikes have a stake in (such as China). This poses a huge problem from both manufacturers and the respective governments. The major obstacle is the implementation of charging stations throughout the city. These stations would function very similarly to gas stations. With recent innovations to technology (such as Toshiba’s SCiB), riders can essentially be able to go into a charging station and then proceed to recharge their batteries in a matter of minutes.
The catch of course, is that there seems to be a lack of political will in order to justify the inordinate cost of implementing such infrastructure.
Nevertheless, this does not reduce the significance of e-bikes. There are many indicators of growth in the e-bike industry. These include technological innovations, demographic changes and socio-economic tendencies. We wish to highlight them with details:
Batteries: When e-bikes first emerged, they used liquid acid electrolyte in the battery. Now, however, e-bikes are operated by batteries that use valve-regulated Pb-acid that solved the problem of previous liquid batteries from spilling (say, from an accident or a fall) and causing environmental damage.
Motors: There have been two main innovations. First, is the advent of brushless motors. Before 2000, most e-bikes used brush motors, which had a rotating speed of only 300 rpm. With brushless motors, that speed jumped to 2000 rpm. Brushless motors have a longer life, require lower maintenance and perform better when climbing hills or rough terrain.
The second advantage is that the efficiency of the motor used in e-bikes jumped from 50% in 1995 to 85% in 2005; a significant increase. The main benefit of this was that the range of e-bikes rose by 60%, therefore users could ride longer and farther than ever before.
Income: China has had a well-documented rise in income level over the past decade. This has had a direct impact in the growth of e-bikes as households look to take advantage of the vehicles’ high efficiency and relatively inexpensive cost of both purchasing and operating. Average disposable income rose by 82% in the years between 1997 and 2004 (from 5/year to 80/year).
E-bike prices: When e-bikes first appeared on the market, the average cost was around 0 (in China). Now, potential buyers can purchase an e-bike for less than 0 with improved quality and performance from the initial selection.
Energy costs: In Shanghai, gas prices average .39/liter. 6 years later, prices had ballooned by over 45% and average prices hovered around .60/liter. In addition, the Chinese government invested heavily into electricity infrastructure (especially in rural areas), so electricity prices fell while gas prices rose. This double effect effectively provoked people to purchase e-bikes which took care of the cost of gas consumption and took advantage of lower electricity costs.
There are also other minor contributing factors to growth. One of them is demographics. As more and more women enter the workforce, their use of transportation rises. As of 2008, women were one of the primary drivers of growth in e-bikes. Reasons being that e-bikes are very easy to use, require almost no maintenance and are affordable (many households have multiple bikes).
Written by akamble
Young, ambitious film and music video director. Love to share knowledge and help people achieve goals.
More Bikes Articles
