Europe's Latest Craze: Electric Bikes
PARIS (AP) - My electric bike is no batmobile, but it makes me feel like a superhero.
The motor is so quiet it's easy to forget it's there when I'm pedaling through the streets of Paris — only I move much faster than a regular bike and I don't sweat. When I ride uphill, it feels like someone is giving me a push.
The silver Chinese import that I bought for 300 euros ($470) might not look as flashy as Christian Bale's wheels in "The Dark Knight," but it is much cheaper to run and kinder to the environment too.
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All of which helps explain why electric bikes are one of the hottest buys in Paris this summer — and are filling the streets of Amsterdam, Beijing and beyond.
"It's become a new means of transport," said Olivier Birault, owner of Paris store Velectris.
"In France we lost the culture of the bike after the war when it was seen as old-fashioned or for poor people.
"Now it's coming back — and with the latest increase in gasoline prices we are seeing enormous interest."
Demand, says Sophie Nenner, who opened Paris bike store Velo Electro in 2005, is particularly high when the sun is shining. When it rains, I don't feel much like Batman on my bike.
More than 10,000 electric bikes were sold in France last year, up from 6,000 in 2006, according to the Conseil National des Professions du Cycle, an association of bike professionals.
And the trend is hitting all of Europe. Sales of power-assisted bikes in Germany this year are expected to double the 60,000 sold in 2007, according to Hannes Neupert, manager of ExtraEnergy, a nonprofit organization promoting light electric vehicles headquartered in Tanna, Germany.
In the Netherlands, sales of electric-powered bikes increased from 45,000 in 2006 to 89,000 last year, according BOVAG, a motorized vehicles industry association, which expects that the meter will read 121,000 at the end of 2008.
That compares with an estimated 10,000 units sold across the U.S. in 2007, according to the Gluskin-Townley Group, which does market research for the National Bicycle Dealers Association.
The popularity is partly due to imports from China, where manufacturers are making very affordable models.
Alberto Antonelli, whose family has been running the Molari bike shop in the seaside Italian resort of Cattolica since 1902, says he stopped selling European brands because his customers balked at the price tag.
"The Chinese bikes are less than half the price of Italian ones, and clearly that makes a difference to a lot of people," he said.
China has more than 1,400 electric bicycle manufacturers, producing around 5.5 million units a year, according to the China Bicycle Association. According to Economic Reference, a newspaper published by the official Xinhua News Agency, China exported 3 million electric bicycles in 2006 worth 40 billion yuan ($5.8 billion).
Imported electric bikes don't come much cheaper than mine, which my partner assembled and then upgraded by fitting three-speed gears and a new basket. Its performance is starting to fade after nine months of daily use, particularly the battery, which is made from lead and has a limited life span.
If I run out of juice, the heavy battery weighs down the bike and makes it difficult to ride uphill, particularly now that I am used to pedal assistance.
But it still incites curiosity wherever I take it. At least twice a week I get stopped by passers-by. "How does it work? Do you need to pedal? Are they very expensive?"
At the top end of the market, where electric bikes can cost upward of 3,000 euros ($4,600), some models look like something Batman would ride — if he were into bikes.
The latest high-end models will go 100 kilometers (62 miles) without recharging, weigh as little as 20 kilograms (44 pounds), and offer funky features such as regenerative braking.
Store owner Birault says bikes are only the start of an electric revolution.
"People are waiting now for the electric car," he said.
