April 15, 2022 - Currently e-bikes, not cars, appear to be the world’s best-selling electric vehicle. According to the market research firm NPD Group, the pandemic bike boom boosted e-bike sales by 145% from 2019 to 2020, more than double the rate of classic bikes, reported the New York Times.

While estimates vary, according to the Pew Research Center, Americans purchased around half a million e-bikes in 2020 vs. 231,000 electric cars. In 2021, e-bikes remained the best-selling electric vehicle in the USA with imports at nearly 790,000 units vs 652,000 electric cars bought by Americans, reported Bloomberg Green.

Deloitte projected that 130 million e-bikes would be sold worldwide between 2020 and 2023. In Europe, it’s predicted that twice as many bikes as cars will be bought each year by 2030. This trend has the potential to transform urban transit according to David Zipper, a visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a specialist in new forms of mobility technology.

According to Zipper’s report in the Times, the rapid development of lithium- ion batteries along with the worldwide resurgence of interest in urban cycling, as well as bike-sharing programs, are fuelling the transition.