138m electric two-wheelers by 2017
Around 17 million electric scooters and motorcycles now grace roads around the world, but this is tipped to swell in the next six yearsA Colorado-based market research company which specialises in ‘clean technology’ predicts that there will be 138 million electric scooters and motorcycles on the road by 2017, up from 17 million in 2011.
Pike Research has based its conclusion on a number of factors, including inexorable urbanisation trends, the fact that people in many countries are accustomed to using two-wheel vehicles as a primary mode of transportation; and increased demand in more industrialised nations due to “improving customer perception, government incentives, and high petroleum fuel costs”.
“Electric motorcycles and scooters have strong appeal for many consumers,” says senior analyst Dave Hurst. “They are relatively low cost to own, do not take a lot of space, and are easy to maintain, therefore making them attractive for city dwellers. Governments also like these vehicles because they can utilise existing transportation and electricity infrastructure without the congestion problems and emissions impacts of conventional automobiles.”
Hurst believes e-scooters will represent a much larger industry, outselling e-motorcycles by a factor of more than six to one on a global basis. However, he expects that the mix will be considerably different in certain regions, such as North America.
The increased demand for e-scooters and motorcycles will, inevitably, see the demand for batteries to skyrocket, in both lead acid and lithium configurations.
In Australia, the only active electric motorcycle manufacturer is
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