Trade Resources Market View Electric Bicycle - Green Driving for Eveyone

Electric Bicycle - Green Driving for Eveyone

Electric Bicycle - Green Driving for Eveyone

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An electric bicycle, also known as an e-bike, is a bicycle with an integrated electric motor which can be used for propulsion. There are a great variety of different types of e-bikes available worldwide, from e-bikes that only have a small motor to assist the rider's pedal-power (i.e. pedelecs) to somewhat more powerful e-bikes which tend closer to moped-style functionality: all however retain the ability to be pedalled by the rider and are therefore not electric motorcycles.

E-bikes use rechargeable batteries and the lighter varieties can travel up to 25 to 32 km/h (16 to 20 mph), depending on the laws of the country in which they are sold, while the more high-powered varieties can often do in excess of 45 km/h (28 mph).【More

 History of Electric Bicycle

In the 1890s, electric bicycles were documented within various U.S. patents. For example, on 31 December 1895, Ogden Bolton Jr. was granted U.S. Patent 552,271 for a battery-powered bicycle with "6-pole brush-and-commutator direct current (DC) hub motor mounted in the rear wheel." There were no gears and the motor could draw up to 100 amperes (A) from a 10-volt battery.

Two years later, in 1897, Hosea W. Libbey of Boston invented an electric bicycle (U.S. Patent 596,272) that was propelled by a "double electric motor." The motor was designed within the hub of the crankset axle.[5] This model was later re-invented and imitated in the late 1990s by Giant Lafree e-bikes.

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 Classes of Electric Bicycle

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E-bikes with pedal-assist only. These are either pedelecs (legally classed as bicycles) or S-Pedelecs (legally classed as moped or motorcycles)

Pedelecs : Have pedal-assist only; motor assists only up to a decent but not excessive speed (usually 25 km/h) ; motor power up to 250 Watts. Pedelecs are often legally classed as bicycles.

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S-Pedelecs : Have pedal-assist only; motor power can be greater than 250 Watts; can attain a higher speed (e.g. 45 km/h) before motor stops assisting. Legally classed as a moped or motorcycle not a bicycle.

E-bikes with power-on-demand and pedal-assist.Some e-bikes combine both pedal-assist sensors as well as a throttle.

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E-bikes with power-on-demand only. These often have more powerful motors than pedelecs but not always. The more powerful of these are legally classed as mopeds or motorcycles.

Market Predictions of Electric Bicycle

E-bike usage worldwide has experienced rapid growth since 1998. It is estimated that there were roughly 120 million e-bikes in China as of early 2010, and sales are expanding rapidly in India, the United States of America, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. A total of 700,000 e-bikes were sold in Europe in 2010, up from 200,000 in 2007 and 500,000 units in 2009.

Today, China is the world's leading producer of e-bikes. According to the data of the China Bicycle Association, a government-chartered industry group, in 2004 China's manufacturers sold 7.5 million e-bikes nationwide, which was almost twice the year 2003 sales; domestic sales reached 10 million in 2005, and 16 to 18 million in 2006.

PikeResearch, a for-profit market research firm, released a report in 2010 which included market analysis and forecasts for electric two-wheel vehicles. They conclude that, "The worldwide electric two-wheel vehicle market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 9% through 2016" and that "a lack of a well-defined retail channel hampers faster adoption in North America and Europe." PikeResearch also forecasted that worldwide sales of e-bikes, e-motorcycles, and e-scooters will reach more than 466 million between 2010 to 2016, and China will continue to dominate the world market, with more than 95% of sales during this period. E-bikes sales are expected to have the largest share with 56% of the market.

However, the Los Angeles Times reported that e-bike sales in the U.S. have slowed in 2010 compared to 2009. This could be due to a slowing economy."

The Development Experience of Electric Bicycle in Main Coutries click picture for detailsElectric Bicycle - Green Driving for Eveyone_8

 

Further reading

Legal Status of Electric Bicycle in Different Countries

 

Written by Dora Men

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