E-Performance: A look at the streets in this country is actually enough to recognize: E-bikes are booming and have long since emancipated themselves from their role as "old man's bikes". The southern German manufacturer Bosch is still one of the driving forces behind this development – worldwide. The forecasts are extremely optimistic and the end of the road is far from being reached.
There are already well over two million e-bikes on Germany's roads and, according to current market forecasts, another half a million will be added in 2016. But this does not seem to be the end of this development "In the medium term, every third newly sold bicycle in Central Europe is likely to be an eBike," appreciates Claus Fleischer, Head of the Bosch eBike Systems product division. At Bosch, we definitely see ourselves as playing a pioneering role in this market, not only in this country but worldwide. More than five years ago, the manufacturer from southern Germany presented its first e-bike drive and got the pedelec avalanche rolling.
“We once again experienced double-digit growth – disproportionately to the market. We remain confident for the coming years, the potential is enormous." Fleischer continues to be happy. The growth potential is also linked to the fact that e-bikes have undergone, or are still undergoing, a profound image change in recent years. While bikes with electric support used to be mainly a matter for the older generation, e-bikes finally found their way into the sports and lifestyle sector by 2015 at the latest. "The focus is currently on a trend towards sporty applications, the electric tailwind is also becoming more and more popular among mountain bikers," states Fleischer. This is unmistakably evident in the comprehensive portfolios of e-mountain bikes from major manufacturers such as Haibike, KTM and Winora.
[newsbox style=”nb6″ title=”E-Bikes 2016″ display=”tag” tag=”Ebike2016″ orderby=”rand” number_of_posts=”4″ sub_categories=”no” show_more=”no” post_type=”post” ]In times when particulate matter records are being broken almost every day in German cities, the topic of "New Mobility" is of course becoming increasingly important. Here, too, the e-bike is one of the cornerstones: "eBikes are the entry into efficient and emission-free mobility," Fleischer is convinced. We all probably still have the bad smog pictures from Asian metropolises like Tokyo or Beijing in mind - it is only logical that Bosch is also trying to get into these markets: “We have had branches in the North American market and in Asia since 2014. We are consistently expanding our activities and continuously developing components and the overall system,” gives Fleischer the direction.
In any case, one thing is certain: the topic of e-bikes will become more present and important in the coming years - beyond the borders of the bicycle industry.
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