BIKE BOOM TIME IS BATTERY BOOSTED
IN what have been some very unusual and often difficult times for all of us, the UK motorbike market continues to outperform expectations.
Latest figures from the Motorcycle Industry Association show that sales of powered two-wheelers in August were 24% up on the same month in 2019 – the last “normal” or pre-Covid year.
The MCIA stats also show the first eight months of this year were 17.5% up on last year. The runaway success story is the electric market which is showing an incredible 190% year-on-year increase over 2020.
Some 3,848 electric bikes had been sold up until the end of August, compared to 1,337 last year.
All the predictions are that battery powered bikes will continue to become a growing part of the overall market as the shift away from fossil fuels goes on.
So let’s delve a little deeper into the electric business. Auto Trader is the UK’s largest digital automotive marketplace so it gives a good window into the market. In June this year, ads for electric bikes were viewed 85,000 times.
Ten Harley-Davidson LiveWires that were for sale attracted 5,000 views, while 20 Zero FXS machines also got 5,000.
Seven Lexmoto Cyphers being offered were each viewed an average of 600 times.
Adverts for battery-powered bikes attracted more daily views per ad than petrol bikes – 14 compared to 12. And the total number of electric bikes being advertised during June had tripled since the same time last year.
Auto Trader found 40% of those looking to buy a motorbike or scooter would consider an electric machine. And more than half (55%) of all bike buyers want to buy an electric within the next six months.
The main considerations for people exploring buying an electric bike are charging, range, price and what type of licence is required.
Auto Trader has addressed these issues with a series of helpful guides on the site.
Here at Mirror Motorcycling we are aware that many bikers are committed petrolheads, but the figures don’t lie – electrics are a small but rapidly increasing segment of the biking world and we’ll continue to follow their progress with interest.
The most viewed electric bikes on the Auto Trader site are:
Harley-Davidson LiveWire Super Soco TC Max Zero FXS Lexmoto Cypher 1500W
E-Rider Model 30 Bumblebee StingRay Thelmoco Ultra Thelmoco Xtra Zero SR/F
Super Soco TC