July 16, 2020 - The e-bike revolution has built momentum over the past few years, and what was once a rare sight on the roads and cycleways of Europe is now becoming more and more common as e-bike attitudes and awareness shifts. A new pan-European report of over 13,000 people from 11 countries for Shimano shows an impressive headline; a quarter of Europeans (24%) already own an e-bike or are likely to buy or use an e-bike more this year than last year.

This statistic comes from the Shimano STEPS E-bike Index 2020 which aims to compare attitudes towards e-bikes across major European countries and explore people’s motivations or hesitations towards using e-bikes for commuting, leisure and transportation.

The findings show many fascinating figures. For example:

• the UK has the smallest amount of people saying they will try an e-bike (7%), whilst almost one in three (30%) in Italy said they would buy or use an e-bike this year. 
  
  
• In some countries like Denmark, Switzerland and the UK, there are promising signs amongst the younger generation as 18-24-year-olds have said they are more likely to use one than any other age groups.
  
  
• As to why there is a shift towards e-bikes, the benefits affecting the physical activity and health of individuals is almost universally recognised. The majority (31%) of those who were likely to use or already owned one say they would mainly use an e-bike for leisure or family activities, hinting that an e-bike’s appeal isn’t just limited to commuting (although over a quarter – 28% – would commute on their e-bike).
  
  
• A third (32%) have said they would buy or use an e-bike this year to conquer longer distances or steeper climbs, and many would use one to improve their physical (30%) and mental (22%) health.
  
  
• In some countries, the reasons for using an e-bike differ quite dramatically. In the Netherlands – where a whopping 78% of the population ride a bike at least once a month, the main reason (39%) given by those wanting to ride an e-bike this year was that they would do because it looks like less effort – and with most e-bikes providing up to 25km/h of pedal-assisted motion who can blame them!
  
  
• There is also a nod to environmental reasons for using an e-bike – one in five (18%) adults in the countries surveyed say they are likely to start using an e-bike because they are concerned about the environmental impact of their travel. With young adults (18-24), this rises to over a quarter (26%).

Full Shimano STEPS State of the Nation 2020 report here

Above all this report shows that, as the world comes out of a health crisis we can expect to see more e-bikes on our streets as people in Europe look for more sustainable and active ways of travelling and ways to increase their increase physical activity and mental health.

More on Shimano here.