As more people discover the health, environmental and money-saving benefits of cycling short distances over the use of cars, electric bike popularity is increasing.
According to recent data, new car registrations in the UK are decreasing and e-bike usage in Liverpool’s is on the rise as the nation opts for eco-friendlier and health-conscious modes of transport.
Using its own online electric bike transaction data, and UK population and car registration data, bicycle retailer, Halfords has predicted what the UK’s e-bike market could look like by 2050 and what positive impacts this could have on the nation’s health and wellbeing – naming Liverpool one of the top 10 cities for e-bike usage growth.
Exploring this rise in e-bike interest, motoring and cycling retailer, Halfords has predicted how the UK’s e-bike market could look by 2050 if it continues to grow at its current rate. Using transaction data exclusive to the company, and population (1) and car registration (2) figures, the forecast projects the rise in e-bikes from 2019 to 2050, and concludes that approximately over one and a half million e-bikes will be sold in the UK in 2050.
London will – unsurprisingly – see the biggest market surge with an estimated 482,704 units sold in 2050. Other top locations to see substantial growth are Liverpool (34,056), Belfast (32,575), Bristol (31,095) and Birmingham (30,354).
Jim Martin, editor of Tech Advisor believes that the pick-up in e-bike popularity is contributed to two factors:
“I think technology-enabled bikes becoming so popular is partly due to tech becoming mainstream, but also because it’s now more cost-effective than before to add technology to just about any product.”
Martin also predicts that in 2050 e-bikes will be even easier to use:
“By the year 2050, I expect e-bikes will be cheaper, lighter, and have a longer range than current bikes. The integrated technology within the bike may also improve dramatically and could include more safety features and even a KERS-type system that recharges the battery when you brake and pedal or freewheel downhill.”
E-bikes becoming even more accessible is something that wellbeing and lifestyle consultant, Yvonne Wake Bsc Msc RNutr believes will only be a positive for the state of the nation’s health:
“E-bikes encourage exercise for all, and especially those with compromised health issues who are being told by their doctors to exercise daily to get them into better health. With seven million (and counting) people in the UK with heart disease (3), and the Obese UK population of 58 per cent woman and 68 per cent of men who are overweight or obese (4), if the forecast is correct, and e-biking became the preferred method of transport for short distances over cars, I have no doubt that it would positively impact the increasing obesity and heart disease rates we are seeing.”
Recent data from SMMT (5), showed a 5.7 per cent decline in new car registrations in the UK in 2017; a decrease that paired with a rise in e-bikes, forecast by Halfords, could be extremely beneficial to the environment, according to Craig Bennett, chief executive of Friends of the Earth:
“Electric bicycles can potentially play a big role in cleaning up our transport by removing dirty vehicles from our roads and getting people onto two wheels. People who may have previously been unable to travel by bicycle could have an entire new, cleaner way of getting around.
“By getting more people out of their cars we can look to a future where our towns and cities are not choking on polluted air, and climate-wrecking emissions have been slashed.”
To view the increase in e-bikes from 2019 to 2050, and for more information, please visit: www.halfords.com/blog/the-ebike-forecast/
