WHY THE TIME IS RIGHT TO INVEST IN ELECTRIC MOTORBIKES

It’s an exciting era for transportation and personal vehicles. Technology is rising to the challenge of ever better performance and riding experience, while people are broadening their horizons to look for new and improved solutions for their life.

Air quality and legislation

Pollution from fossil fuel and heavy vehicles is a known cause of many unnecessary deaths, health problems and lower quality of living. Cities around the world already have and are introducing tighter clean air zones, while the EU and perhaps the UK are set to ban sales of new ICE vehicles from 2035. The EU's Green Deal, the UK's Net Zero Strategy, Brazil's CONAMA Resolutions, Colombia's 2017 Resolution No. 2254 and many more countries introducing air quality regulations, clean air and low emissions zones, legislation restricting polluting vehicles is only going to get more rigorous. On the flip side, incentives for electric and light electric vehicles are becoming more widespread.

Electric options can even be the saviour for motorsports, as we progress inevitably towards tighter controls on fossil fuel vehicles. It is to be expected that leisure activities may be among the first to have their use limited in a fuel shortage or crisis. But electric power can be obtained from green or low carbon sources. This not only enables the show to go on, but can also catch the interest of whole demographics who might have avoided the sport in the past due to concerns around emissions.

Increasing population

With more and more people on the planet, the dream lifestyle of individual car ownership looks more and more unrealistic and impractical. Motorbikes take up less space in storage and in transit, and cause less wear and tear on infrastructure than heavy private cars. They are also more affordable and therefore more accessible to a wider range of users. Plenty of experts have noted that simply making the switch from fossil fuel to electric cars will not be enough to overcome the challenges of our growing numbers. For a less problematic vehicle that also delivers on a high amount of personal freedom and convenience, e-motorbikes can fit the bill.

2 wheels can be better than 4

Over congested city commutes or long highway tailbacks, motorbikes shine at cutting time off your journey. Some riders report that taking a motorcycle instead of the car can half their regular commute! Riding also calls for a little more core strength and physical input than sitting stationary in a car, so it’s one form of motorised transport that can actually benefit your health.

Shortage of raw materials

E-motorbikes are smaller and lighter, they can get the same mileage with a much smaller battery compared to an electric car, and even use up less resources and fuel as freight. Their smaller size and shorter parts list also obviously call for less raw material in the manufacturing. You can even take into account that the nature of a motorcycle presents far more opportunities for structural weight saving at the design stage. With some experts predicting a dire future for availability of raw materials, smaller vehicles look likely to win the day.

Easier and cheaper maintenance, fewer moving parts

Electric motorbikes can deliver the same awesome performance and riding experience in a less complicated machine. This benefit is not only felt by the end user, but goes right back to the supply chain. Delivering the end product is more streamlined, with less logistical time and miles. T&D has invested in keeping as much as possible of the manufacturing process in-house or local, from trusted suppliers, making for tighter quality control. At the other end of the chain, service is easier to carry out, and less likely to take you off the road for long periods of time.

The market value is set for excellent growth

From a purely financial point of view, electric motorbikes are a hot commodity. The European electric scooters and motorcycles market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 27.6% from 2020-25, to $758.5 million and the global market for is predicted to be worth $623.59 billion by 2029.

More and more auto brands worldwide will follow suit in offering electric ranges, and it would be wise to catch on to the trend in its early days. T&D parent company, Bafang, was part of the earliest days of the electric bike boom, and the team remember the days of nay-sayers and negative talk around electric bikes. The sector is now thriving and even leading in the bicycle trade. T&D is ready to collaborate with like-minded manufacturers and engineers who want to part of the electric evolution.