For urban traffic conditions, electric Bikes have emerged as a popular mode of transport due to their net cost-saving and efficiency advantages. According to the figures presented by the Beijing Transport Development Research Institute, the price of a typical electric bike is between 3,000 and 6,000 yuan, which amounts to merely 5% to 10% of that of an equivalent automobile for city use. Besides, its yearly maintenance fee is only 500 to 800 yuan, far lower than that of 12,000 yuan for a gas-powered vehicle. Based on a 15-kilometer daily trip, the electricity expenditure per kilometer for an electric bike is only 0.03 yuan, while that for a gas-powered vehicle is 0.6 yuan, which is as much as 20 times the difference. If quantified in terms of a five-year usage cycle, customers will save around 45,000 yuan, with an ROI of more than 200%. In addition, electric bike achieves 80% efficiency in energy conversion, far surpassing 25%-30% for fuel engines, basically reducing energy loss.
In terms of traffic efficiency, electric bike demonstrates great urban congestion mobility. Gaode Map’s “2023 Urban Commuting Report” states that the average speed for auto vehicles during rush hours in Beijing is only 22 kilometers per hour, while electric bikes are able to run at a speed of 25 to 30 kilometers per hour on exclusive lanes. Research at Shanghai Jiao Tong University demonstrates that within a 5-kilometer radius, the commuting time by electric bicycle averages at 15 minutes, 34 minutes less than the subway and 47 minutes less than the bus. The data collected by Shenzhen citizens demonstrates that the punctuality rate of commuting by electric bicycle can be as high as 98%, 21 percentage points higher than self-driving commuting. This increase in efficiency translates one-to-one to productivity value-based – given an average hourly wage of 60 yuan in Shenzhen, it can save office employees about 156 hours a year, the equivalent of creating an additional value of economic worth 9,360 yuan.
Environmental benefits are yet another inherent advantage of electric Bikes. A study by the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicates that a single electric bike can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by almost 500 kilograms annually. On a million scale of bikes, if substituted by fuel cars, it reduces carbon by 500,000 tons, which is equal to planting 28 million trees. Statistics from the China Bicycle Association show that the cycle life of new generation lithium batteries has reached over 1,000 times, and the recovery rate of lead-acid batteries has been over 98%, and heavy metal pollution has thus been effectively resolved. Take Beijing as an example. By 2023, the city possessed more than 8 million electric Bikes, conserving about 400,000 tons of fuel annually, equivalent to conserving 3.4 billion yuan of energy import cost.
Infrastructure construction and policy incentives have accelerated the popularity of electric Bikes. Since the introduction of the “New National Standard” in 2023, a maximum subsidy for models that comply with the standard is up to 15% of the sale price. Urban areas such as Shenzhen have established a system of more than 1,200 kilometers of exclusive lanes for non-motor vehicles. Meituan Cycling statistics show that the daily frequency of using electric Bikes in association with intelligent battery swap cabinets reached 3.8 times, an increase of 42% compared with the traditional charging mode. From the perspective of global trends, Navigant Research estimated that the market size of the worldwide electric bicycle market in 2025 will reach 46 billion US dollars, and the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) will reach 7.9%, of which the Asia-Pacific region will account for more than 65%.
Technological innovation leads to persistent upgrade in competitiveness of electric bike. The new generation lithium iron phosphate battery of CATL’s has been increased in energy density to 200Wh/kg, which makes the range more than 150 kilometers and reduces the charging time to 2 hours. From an intelligence point of view, Ninebot’s self-balancing electric bike includes a 6-axis IMU sensor, and the rate of accidents is 37% less compared to the traditional models. According to a Gartner survey, the incidence of theft of electric bikes with Internet of Things (iot) functions decreased by 63%, and the consumers’ intention to repurchase increased by 29 percentage points. Such technology developments led the industry to a virtuous circle – in 2023, exports of electric bikes from China exceeded 10 million units, 25% year-on-year growth, and its European market share reached 38%.
From the social benefit view, electric bike effectively gets rid of the urban transportation structural contradictions. Statistics released by Hangzhou Traffic Management Bureau show that since the opening of shared electric bikes, the served population of the 3-kilometer connection circle of metro stations has increased by 1.2 million, and the efficiency of bus route optimization is up by 18%. For individual consumers, a study by the sports medicine group at Tsinghua University found that maintaining an average 100-120 beats per minute heart rate while riding an electric bicycle, riding 30 minutes, five times weekly, can reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases by 21%. This health and efficiency-balancing mode of transportation is reshaping the logic of city commuting.