In the US as in Europe, elderly people and mature adults are the dominant group of e-bike owners
The U.S. consumer for e-bikes comes from the Baby-Boomer category. Its leading age groups are 45-54, 55-64, and 65+. In terms of interest, while the EU tends to be more male dominant at around 80%, in the U.S. the ratios show a 70% male, 30% female buyer ratio.
E-bike users age in Europe, French survey results
Ebike ownership by age in France – image Le Monde
In 2018, the Cerema, a French government think tank for transport and environment, polled 22,163 beneficiaries of e-bike purchasing bonuses. The results show once again the hegemony of seniors.
Age: over 55. Logically, the over-55s are in the vast majority, with 68% of beneficiaries, well beyond the retired. In fact, it appears that the purchase of an EV is directly linked to age. In the Netherlands, it is an instrument for extending the use of bicycles over time.
Occupation: retired. Retired people are by far the largest group of beneficiaries, 46%, although they represent only 27% of the total population.
What hinders e-bike purchases, especially for youth
Unsurprisingly, it is the high cost that is cited first (70.2%, and youngsters are the least wealthy), followed by ‘lack of need’ (33.5%), fear of theft (26.2%), the inability to repair one own ebike (24.6%), the environmental aspect (20.9% – in France, consumption of nuclear energy; the conditions of lithium extraction; and the problem of battery reprocessing); the cost of maintenance (17.3%) and the lack of reliability (15.2%). Of course, respondents could give more than one answer.
What would it take to woo youth to ebikes?
Probably cheaper, foldable ebikes, easy to carry on trains and buses, but also more bike lanes, as well as sheltered bike parkings in schools and near metro stations.
Pietro’s e-skateboard costs 650 €
We interviewed Pietro (upper image), a young man living in Paris, who rides an e-skateboard rather than an ebike
1. Where do you live?
In Asnières-sur-Seine, near Paris.
2. What is your occupation?
I am working and studying human resources.
3. What is the distance between your residence and your work?
Half an hour on foot, 15 minutes by bike.
4. How do you get to work?
By electric skateboard. It’s more practical than the public Vélib (Paris ebike public sharing) because I don’t have to go to the station. In the morning I just get on my skateboard and go.
5. When it rains?
There is no convenient transport from my home to my work, so I always ride my skateboard, the problem is that the rain ruins the wheel bearings, so I avoid puddles as much as possible, but I’ve had to change them once.
6. When it’s cold?
I cover myself well and… I get on my skateboard.
7. When you go out with your friends, which means of transport do you use?
Mainly public transport: metro, train… I have an annual Navigo public transport pass which costs me 175€, and it saves me having to drag my electric skateboard when I’m with my friends, in the end it’s quite heavy when you’re not on it.
8. What are the advantages of an electric skateboard compared to an electric bike?
The fact that you can take it wherever you go… The format is really practical and easy to transport. I also find it much more fun, but it’s true that it’s more dangerous, a fall without protection can really hurt at 25km/h. But it doesn’t only have advantages, it’s not very rainy, and as soon as the road is not smooth you feel it right away and it’s not comfortable at all.
9. Why don’t you think about buying an electric bike?
Because I wouldn’t know where to store it, I don’t have a balcony or a space to store a bike… Besides, if I want an electric bike, I can take out a Vélib subscription which would cost me less than 10€ a month and give me access to bikes everywhere in Paris and beyond. But I wouldn’t be against the idea of buying a high performance bike, it would probably be more autonomous than a Vélib (public bike-sharing), but it’s an investment.
10. Under what conditions could you consider buying an electric bike?
Having a bigger flat to store it in, or living in a city where public transport is so bad that a bike would be essential.
11. How many people between the ages of 20 and 35 in your circle use an electric bike?
I don’t know anyone who owns an electric bike. However, I have quite a few friends who regularly use Vélib electric bikes when the weather is good.
12. Why do you think there are so few?
In our region most people are satisfied with the RATP network which, despite its shortcomings, allows them to get where they want. Those who need to make journeys not covered by transport generally buy an electric scooter.
13. Do you think that spending about €2500 on an electric bike is worth it?
People spend that much on scooters, so no, it doesn’t seem absurd to me. But the bike is still an economic alternative in people’s minds, not an expense in which one will intuitively invest a salary. (Pietro’s e-skateboard costs 650 €, but it can last far less than an ebike).
I think that someone who spends €2500 on a bike would be an ebike enthusiast, someone who just needs to get around will probably be happy with something that costs half that. But if you use it every day, it’s worth it.
14. Would you buy an electric bike that is light and foldable enough to be easily carried on public transport?
I don’t think so, I don’t like the look of folding bikes, if I buy a bike I like it to be big, comfortable and efficient, things that a folding bike doesn’t intuitively evoke in me. If I want a foldable and transportable vehicle, it would be a skateboard, Uniwheel or scooter.
15. To what extent do you think that electric bikes can replace cars in the city?
It’s hard to completely replace cars: Parisians and residents of the inner suburbs already get around mostly by transport, but people living in the outer suburbs sometimes have no choice but to drive to work. Cities like Amsterdam make me believe that it is not impossible. Everyone is on a bike there. If I lived there I would probably buy a great bike.
16. What would you most like to improve in Paris?
Many bike lanes in Paris are poorly connected, often have ambiguous or even dangerous transitions from road to street, bike signs are not present everywhere, some paved roads are impassable, and you are sometimes forced to squeeze in to share bike lanes with pedestrians and cars. There are few real cycle paths (which unlike cycle lanes are physically separated from roads).