Articles

Electric bikes are most profitable in Germany

Written by Charles Thursday, 11 December 2008 05:55

Electric bikes AKA pedelecs and e-bikes

"reaches the highest average price in the German bicycle trade. Customers pay for additional comfort and functions––a great chance for bicycle dealers". 

States new article from Extra energy
 
According to ExtraEnergy estimates, 250,000 electric bikes were sold in Europe in 2007. In 2008, this number will be higher. All the positive media reports have created a new perception of electric bikes among people of any age. They are not the strange granny's bikes anymore but a serious alternative to cars and other polluting vehicles. This change of trend was obvious at the bicycle shows Eurobike and IFMA this year. Visitors were very open towards e-bikes and showed positive interest and curiosity towards new forms of mobility and vehicle concepts. The last days of the IFMA fair turned into a flie market were locals bargained and bought especially from the exibitioners who came from far.

Pedelecs sell for highest average price
On September 4, 2008, the German bicycle dealer magazine SAZ published a research, which showed that people in Germany spend the most money on electric bikes. This statement means that the customer is really paying more money for the added value he gets from an electric bike compared to a regular bike (faster and more comfortable, riding uphill or against head wind with ease, carrying loads more easily). The average sales price for a electric bikes in Germany is 1,685 Euros. This is a little less than in Holland where an electric typically costs 2,000 Euros.

 

Below are some general prices from some other bicycle categories.

1,523 EUR full suspension mountain bikes
1,456 EUR special bikes
1,353 EUR racing bikes
743 EUR hardtail mountain bikes
702 EUR trekking bikes
520 EUR all-terrain bikes
517 EUR city bikes
273 EUR kids' bikes

Price gap will increase
In his presentation at LEV Conference in Cologne on  September 19, 2008, Hannes Neupert refered to the SAZ  statistics.

According to information gathered by SAZ sales of electric bicycles are better now than in previous years. 17% of the interviewed bicyle dealers in 2008 rated their electric bikes sales “very good” compared to only 12% last year. 13% rated their electric bike business “very bad” which was a big improvement to 20% last year, SAZ found out.

Great chance for dealers
It should be worth the effort, if sales numbers really
rise as ExtraEnergy predicts. For the year 2018 Mr. Neupert’s organization expects sales between 1.5 and 3.25 million pedelecs per year––in Germany. Compared to the number above 120.000 pedelecs, which will probably sold in Germany this year, seems almost nothing. The industry, however, celebrates this year’s sales as great success – and they are right when looking back at the tiny sales only a few years ago. Trade magazines such as Bike Europe talk about the break through of electric bikes with turnovers that remind of the mountain bike boom. When looking at the mentioned potential, we are now at the very beginning
of a new era in transportation. This new type of "green2wheelers" may bring huge profits to the retail business.