Skip to main content

Multi-billion dollar market revealed for electric motorcycles

The new report by IDTechEx, Electric Motorcycles and Three Wheel Electric Vehicles 2015-2025 reveals a market value of over US$12 billion for electric motorcycles including e-scooters and maxi scooters in 2025 - a market nearly five times greater than that for e-bikes with pedals. The big stories this year are car-like MicroEVs, the first category to be aimed primarily at emerging nations, and electric motorcycles, including e-maxi scooters and three wheel motorcycles. Electric motor cycles and thre
August 15, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

The new report by 6582 IDTechEx, Electric Motorcycles and Three Wheel Electric Vehicles 2015-2025 reveals a market value of over US$12 billion for electric motorcycles including e-scooters and maxi scooters in 2025 - a market nearly five times greater than that for e-bikes with pedals.
 
The big stories this year are car-like MicroEVs, the first category to be aimed primarily at emerging nations, and electric motorcycles, including e-maxi scooters and three wheel motorcycles.
 
Electric motor cycles and three wheelers are smaller businesses in volume but are often capable of generating higher percentage profits. The same is true of those making components and systems. In the large sectors they find it hard to make a living in fast growing niches where small to medium sized businesses are able to prosper.
 
The report says Yamaha and BMW are entering this business in 2015. Harley Davidson is getting opinions on its prototype but it is small companies like leader Zero Motorcycles and Brammo that are landing most of the orders, demonstrating impressive innovation and going global with them. They are something of a one way bet because either a giant buys them in order to catch up or they do a Tesla and get big by organic growth. Then there are the Chinese innovating with impressive maxi-scooters and motorcycles ‘at one third of the price’. That grows the market rather than eliminates competition - look at what happened with conventional motorcycles.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • TISPOL says gig economy tears up enforcement rulebook
    March 4, 2019
    The road safety enforcement sector is facing a crisis. Rulebooks around the world are going to have to change as our roads become a high-pressure workplace for millions of gig economy workers. Geoff Hadwick reports from the TISPOL conference Traffic police forces everywhere will need a fresh approach to regulating the way in which our highways are being used, senior enforcement officers were told at the latest TISPOL European Traffic Police Network annual conference. The World Health Organisation puts it
  • EVs to make up 2.4 percent of global light-duty vehicle sales by 2023
    October 24, 2014
    A new report from Navigant Research, ‘Electric Vehicle Market Forecasts,’ provides a comprehensive overview of the overall light duty vehicle (LDV) market, including global forecasts for annual LDV sales and vehicles in use through 2023. The rapidly changing market for electric vehicles (EVs), which includes hybrids (HEVs), plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), and battery electric vehicles (BEVs), is a small but growing part of the global automotive industry. Keen to see increasing penetrations of EVs due to the e
  • Venkat Sumantran: ‘Smart cities are more hype than reality’
    November 23, 2018
    For all the talk of smart cities, investment in systems lags significantly behind organic expansion in most places. Andrew Stone talks to Venkat Sumantran, who has been looking at how to create a coherent framework which could help authorities answer multiple mobility questions Two megatrends are posing unprecedented challenges to those trying to keep people moving around the world’s urban areas now - and in the years and decades to come. The first is rapid urbanisation. One in six of us lived in urban a
  • Low carbon vehicle technology competition winners announced at LCV 2017
    September 8, 2017
    The winners securing a share of a recent US$5 million (£3.9 million) investment for low carbon development and demonstration projects in the niche vehicle sector have been announced at LCV 2017. Thirty projects have been successful in receiving grant funding from the Niche Vehicle Network competitions, collectively supported by Innovate UK, the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC).