59% of Americans who own an e-bike are male while 41% are female but monthly riders are even more likely men (10% of US men and 4% of US women ride monthly). A plurality of those are between the ages of 18 to 44 (86%). In comparison to motorcycle owners, 67% are males and 33% are females. Three out of five of them are between the age of 18 to 44 (63%).
According to YouGov Profiles , an audience intelligence tool, 16% of Americans have used a bicycle while 7% have used a motorcycle in the last 12 months. However, 7% ride an e-bike at least once a month.
The coronavirus pandemic at some point changed the urban transport landscape with many abandoning public transportations and switching to e-bikes. According to the Light Electric Vehicle Association, e-bikes are the best-selling electric vehicles in the US market – surpassing electric cars. In this article we examine the profile of e-bike owners in the American market, and track the vehicle’s usage, to help brands target their campaigns more efficiently.
When it comes to e-bike usage, three quarters (74%) of owners use theirs at least once a week, however regularity of usage seems to have slidden slightly year on year.
YouGov Profiles also lets us dig further into the purchasing and attitudes of e-bike owners. For example, e-bike owners are more likely than the average American to buy clothing from Hanes, Levi's, Stussy, and Victoria's Secret. A quarter of them own Samsung phones while 18% have Apple. A fifth say their favorite soccer athlete is Christiano Ronaldo (21%) while a quarter of e-bike owners spend at least an hour a week on TikTok (24%). About two in five say they regularly swim for fitness (38%).
They are also slightly higher income earners with 30% living in households earning over $100k annually versus 17% of non-owners. They are also far more urban, with three in five e-bike owners (62%) living in a city versus only 33% of non-owners.
E-bike owners are more likely to say advertisements help them choose what they buy than the US general population (71% vs 41%). They are also more than twice as likely to trust products recommended by celebrities and influencers (56% vs 22%), twice as willing to pay more for luxury products (67% vs 30%), and like visiting cinemas in their free time (47% vs 31%). This all points to an audience for e-bikes that makes them very different from your average American.
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Methodology
YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data for the US is nationally representative of the online population and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.
Help with riding up hills is the main reason cyclists buy electric bikes, according to a new survey from BEBA, the British Electric Bicycle Association.
Cycling up hills (58.5 per cent) was closely followed by fitness and exercise (54.3 per cent) as the main reason to purchase an e-bike.
The report also found that the average retail price paid for an electric bicycle was £801 to £950, and that the majority bought their electric bike through a physical store rather than through an online retailer.
Other key findings included that the typical age range of an e-bike consumer was 50 to 59 (34.8 per cent of respondents). Commuting was narrowly edged out by leisure (by 3.1 per cent) as the main use of e-bikes.
Perhaps controversially, the survey supported the case for throttle-controlled electric bikes.
BEBA said the report proved a “categorical need for a throttle on an electric bicycle. Only 27 per cent of those surveyed said they either didn’t have a throttle fitted or never used it.”
Currently various bodies in the bike world are at loggerheads over whether there should be moves to ban throttle-controlled e-bikes or not.
The survey also tackled range, where BEBA found: “There are a few electric bicycles that boast a range of over 80 miles, but in reality only 2.5 per cent of consumers regularly travel further than 31 miles. The majority travel six to ten miles.
“The whole survey shows a general trend towards more expensive electric bicycles. Consumer habits are clearly identified as needing a throttle, but still motivated by fitness and exercise. We anticipate we will see further growth in the lower age groups over the coming couple of years.
“The report is the most up-to-date study of the UK electric bicycle market and gives a fair representation of the market as a whole,” the association asserted.
www.beba-online.co.uk
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