It is not just pensioners who are using electric bikes, new study shows

DutchNews, October 13, 2020 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

More people in the Netherlands are using electric bikes and they are growing in popularity among the young as well as pensioners, figures from the government mobility institute KiM have shown. 

In 2019 18% of all bike trips were made on electric bikes, compared to only 8% in 2013. Almost 10% of cycle trips made by the under-35s are now on an electric bike, which their use by 35 to 65-year-olds has more than doubled in six years. 

The KiM said electric bikes are increasingly used to travel to and from work although recreational use had doubled as well. Initially electric bikes were popular among the elderly but use among the under 65s is growing fast, the KiM said. 

Electric bike sales have been superseding the sale of ordinary bikes since 2017 and demand exploded earlier in the coronavirus crisis when people were wary of using public transport. In May the sale of electric bikes went up some 38% compared to the same month the year before. 

At the same time, the theft of electric bikes went up as well, by almost 40% in the last year. ‘Ordinary bikes are targeted by opportunists, but e-bikes are being stolen by organised gangs,’ a spokesman for bike insurer Enra said at the time.

Schiphol tests speed limiting system for super fast e-bikes

DutchNews, February 25, 2020 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Schiphol airport is to test an automatic braking system to reduce the speed of fast e-bikes and speed pedelecs around the airport to improve safety, airport officials announced on Tuesday. 

The test is part of a plan introduced by Schiphol with construction company BAM Infra and bike maker Gazelle in 2018. The aim is to ease congestion and promote cycling, including a 22km cycling route especially for fast bikes  Only 4,000 of the airport’s 66,000 staff currently cycle to work. 

The system, called the Intelligent Speed Assistent (ISA), would automatically limit the velocity of the bike to normal peddling speed on approaching the airport via a link to the GPS network. 

Cyclists would be warned that they are approaching the lower speed zone and, if they have an ISA fitted, the motor power would prevent the bike from travelling too fast. 

If the Schiphol test is successful, speed limiting systems could also be used to reduce problems caused by fast electric bikes in the centre of Amsterdam as well, Kees Bakker of cyclists organisation Fietsersbond told the Parool. 

Automatically limiting the speed would make it possible for people using super fast bikes to use the cycle paths. They are now required to use the main road. 

Asked if an outside intervention in their speed would be an infringement of cyclists’ freedom Bakker said e-bikes are already limited in how fast they can go. ‘You should look at it from another perspective: the system allows you to go faster where it is possible.’

Electric motorcycles ride to rescue in fuel-short Cuba

Yahoo – AFP, Carlos BATISTA, November 8, 2019

Electric motorcycle riders have come to the rescue of Cuban passengers
delayed by fuel shortages (AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

Havana (AFP) - It is rush hour in Havana and the queue at the bus stop is longer than ever. Then a fleet of electric motorcycles appears, beeping their horns.

Surprised and relieved, passengers jump on the backs of the 50 or so electric mopeds.

It is a new solution for Cubans struggling with fuel shortages driven by US sanctions that have curbed oil imports.

Cuba has long been known for the classic American cars that people here lovingly maintain decades after they stopped being built.

But urban transport on the communist island is evolving.

The bikes' horns beep and some of the riders play reggaeton music -- but, being electric, their motors make hardly any noise.

A Chinese-made electric motorcycle costs between $1,800 and $2,300 in Cuba. A basic petrol-powered bike on the island can cost up to six times that.

Authorities estimate there are 210,000 electric motorcyles in use in Cuba 

(AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

Volunteer riders

The electric bikes -- with a maximum speed of about 50 kilometers (30 miles) per hour -- were first licensed for import in 2013.

They have multiplied in the streets since then -- and have come into their own with the recent fuel shortages.

"I really like this initiative, it helps a lot with the economy," says passenger Yanet Figueroa, 42, sitting on the back of one of the bikes.

"It really helps people who have great need of it."

Cuba plunged into a fuel crisis in September after Washington imposed restrictions on fuel shipments from Cuba's top ally Venezuela.

Cuba had to make do in September with just 30 percent of its usual fuel supply and the level has still not recovered -- it is forecast to reach no more than 80 percent this month.

With the public transport network badly hit, President Miguel Diaz-Canel has called on drivers to pick up passengers voluntarily.

The owners of electric bikes known as "motorinas" answered the call.

"We have volunteered to do this as a service to society," says one of the drivers, Javier Capote, 33.

"It is going very well. We are very happy about it."

The president himself during a televised address mentioned "those famous... what do you call them, the bikes? The 'motorinas', that have come out to help."

Mechanics have work to do servicing Cuba's fleet of electric motorcycles

(AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

Electric bike era

Cuban authorities estimate there are 210,000 electric motorcycles currently in use on the island.

That figure is expected to rise as the government in late October began to sell them with the price capped at $1,700.

Those who make a living servicing the bikes are pleased by that move as it will bring down costs.

"It seems like a very good idea to us mechanics," says one, Enrique Alfonso, 47, in his workshop.

He recalls the economic crisis of the 1990s that followed the end of cheap imports from the Soviet Union.

"That was the era of (affordable) Chinese bicycles. Now we are in the era of electric motorcycles," he says.

"With everything that is going on the country, they have become obtainable for a lot of people."

Members of the Electric Motorcycles of Cuba club ride passengers home

(AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

Accidents

The electric bikes had a mixed reception at first. Silent and often inexpertly ridden, they are often involved in accidents in a country that already suffers from thousands of crashes a year.

Officials say that of the 7,000 road accidents recorded so far this year, a third have involved electric motorcycles.

Authorities have responded by insisting riders have a license and register their vehicles.

The flourishing of electric bikes follows several years of gradual opening-up of Cuba's state-run economy. It has also coincided with a digital mini-revolution.

Thanks to the availability of 3G-standard internet connections since last year, riders can network more easily.

The 3G connections helped spawn the Electric Motorbikes of Cuba online group, a club with more than 80 members.

It started out as a club for enthusiasts seeking to have "healthy fun and share the passion we all have for electric motorcycles and road safety," says its president Osdany Fleites, a 37-year-old taxi driver.

"The motorcycles do not pollute the environment, they do not make a noise," he says.

Now the club has evolved to have an environmental and "social purpose."

Along with another club, Eracing, its members take part in rescuing bus passengers stuck due to the fuel shortages.

They have also taken part in environmental clean-up jobs, helping eradicate an infestation of troublesome giant snails in Havana, donated blood and visited children in a cancer ward.

VIDEO: 🇨🇺 Electric motorcycles are providing a new solution for #Cubans struggling with fuel shortages driven by US sanctions that have curbed oil imports https://t.co/VhwAuWCCIS pic.twitter.com/9fAmyc0W57

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 8 november 2019

The Dutch bought one million bikes for a record €1.2bn last year

DutchNews, March 1, 2019

Electric bikes are popular with more than just pensioners. Photo: DutchNews.nl 

The Dutch spent a record €1.2bn buying new bikes in 2018 and the sale of electric bikes overtook those of traditional city bikes for the first time, according to new figures from the RAI association and Bovag. 

In total, the Dutch bought one million new bikes last year, a rise of 5.7% on 2017. The increase is partly due to the long, hot summer which encouraged more people to cycle, officials say. 

The sale of electric bikes rose a whopping 40% to 409,400, accounting for €823m of the total bill or an average of over €2,000 per bike. City bikes without electricity accounted for one third of the number of bikes sold, down from 42% in 2017. 

‘Electric bikes are becoming the new normal,’ the organisations said in a statement. ‘You can find electric bikes for all sorts of different target groups, from young to old. There are electric mountain bikes, transport bikes and cargo bikes so parents can move children around.’ 

Figures from research institute TNO show that people who buy a new bike tend to cycle more. 

Bovag and RAI expect that new rules for company bikes which are due to come into effect next year will boost bike sales by a further 150,000 a year. 

The rules involve encouraging more employers to pay their staff 19 cents a kilometre in travelling expenses if they use their own bike to get to work. The payment is part of the Dutch tax system but few employers use it.

Sales of e-bikes take off, as do internet bike sales, says ABN Amro

DutchNews, May 30, 2018

Dutch consumers are buying more e-bikes and increasingly fewer traditional bikes, according to a study published on Wednesday by ABN Amro. 

Sales of e-bikes soared by 75% over the past seven years and one-third of all new bicycles are now powered by a battery,  the study said. Sales of traditional bikes, meanwhile, have fallen back 37% since 2010. 

ABN Amro is forecasting bike sales 3% higher in 2018. 

More bikes are also being sold online. In 2013, fewer than one in 10 bikes was bought online but that has now risen to over 25%. 

The total Dutch bike fleet is probably over 22.7 million by now – 1.3 bikes for every man, woman and child in the country –  roads lobby group Bovag said recently. 

‘We can’t give exact numbers because bikes don’t have number plates and are not registered centrally,’ a spokesman said.

For the first time, more cyclists are killed on the Dutch roads than people in cars

DutchNews, April 25, 2018

Photo: Depositphotos.com

The number of cyclists killed on the Dutch roads has outstripped the number of people killed in cars for the first time, the national statistics office CBS said on Wednesday. 

In total, 613 people were killed in traffic accidents last year, a drop of 16 on 2016. Of them, 206 of them were cyclists, a rise of 17 and the highest figure in 10 years, the CBS said. 

In addition, 201 people were killed in cars, 82 died in motorbike or moped accidents, 58 pedestrians were killed and 25 people died while using mobility scooters, the CBS said. 

While the number of people killed in car accidents has declined steadily, deaths among cyclists has been virtually unchanged for years. 

The over-65s account for two-thirds of deaths among cyclists, and e-bikes were involved in one in four bike accidents. 

Road safety body Veilig Verkeer Nederland said in a reaction it is important that road users are aware of their own physical limitations. ‘Being in traffic is a question of taking each other into account, and that is not difficult to do,’ spokesman Rob Stomphorst said. 

Transport minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen said she would do ‘all’ she could to reverse the trend.

Decoy bikes with GPS trackers lead to sharp drop in bike theft, expert say

DutchNews, December 14, 2017

Photo: Depositphotos.com

The use of decoy bikes fitted with police GPS tracking systems has reduced bike theft by up to 50% in the places where they are being used, economist Ben Vollaard told Thursday’s Telegraaf. 

The paper says Vollaard’s research at Tilburg University shows that ‘professional criminals’ are more likely to disappear when the special bikes are being used. 

Vollaard looked at 14 places where the decoy bikes were placed, including Dordrecht and Gorinchem. In total, the decoy bikes were used 1,612 times last year and 1,220 arrests were made as a result, the paper said. 

Police currently have a pool of 300 bikes at their disposal, of which around 70 are electric bikes. All are new bikes from popular brands such as Gazelle or Batavus. 

By the beginning of October this year, police had received 61,063 reports of stolen bikes, down more than 13,000 on the 2016 total. 

‘I know that everyone says no-one bothers to report a stolen bike but these are the only figures we have to base policy on,’ said Mogjan Yavari of Centrum Fietsendiefstal, which unites police, insurers and manufacturers.

Dutch bike builder Van Moof raises €2.5m through crowdfunding

DutchNews, October 25, 2017

Photo: Brbbl via Wikimedia Commons

Dutch city bike builder Van Moof has raised €2.5m through crowdfunding, on top of a €4m capital injection from venture capital group Slingshot. 

More than one thousand people put money into the company, which had been looking to raise at least €1m.

‘The faith shown in us by Slingshot and all the fans who have invested in us means we can take the next stop in our international growth,’ founder Taco Carlier said in a website statement. The cash will be used to increase production, research new technology and open bigger stores. 

The company was set up in 2009 by two brothers and now has shops in Amsterdam, Tokyo, Berlin, Taipei and New York. Its bikes are known for their sleek, simple designs and use of technology, including touch locks and anti-theft devices.

Embassies promote Dutch cycling culture abroad

DutchNews, November 18, 2016

Photo: Meredith Glaser via
Amsterdamcyclechic.com

Although the Netherlands is lagging behind on wind and solar energy it has one trump card when it comes to energy saving: the bike. The Netherlands is touting one of its most popular national symbols to countries across the planet, the Volkskrant writes. 

In order to promote bike use and boost Dutch bike manufacturers, Dutch embassies around the world have been instructed to get peddling and involve themselves in bike-related promotional schemes. 

‘There are economic opportunities, particularly for bike makers,’ Chris Kuijpers, directer general of environmental issues at the economic affairs ministry, told the paper. 

From China to Mexico embassies are persuading high-ranking officials to climb on and go for bike rides in an effort to highlight Dutch expertise. 

In Marrakesh, host of this week’s climate summit COP22, Dutch embassy personnel have been busy too, supporting a bike repair project for the locals initiated by the Pikala Bikes foundation. The foundation transports abandoned bikes from bike depots in Amsterdam and The Hague to Marrakesh where Moroccan youngsters are taught how to repair them. 

Many countries are keen to make room for bikes in their cities and are willing to learn from Dutch experience, says Matthijs van Bonzel, ambassador to Spain. 

Spain already boasts a number of municipal bike hire schemes and Seville is one of the most bike-friendly cities in the country. Madrid, too, is willing to give more space to cyclists, Van Bonzel says. He has even gone on a bike ride with mayor Manuela Carmena, he told the paper.

The Dutch are cycling longer distances as e-bike takes off

DutchNews, July 28, 2015,

The Dutch are now each cycling an average of 1,018 kilometres a year, a rise of 230 kilometres on five years ago, the Telegraaf says on Tuesday. 

Road users lobby group Bovag puts the increase down to the popularity of electric bikes. ‘In 2007, people bought 89,000 e-bikes but last year the total was 223,000,’ spokesman Tom Huyskens told the paper.

‘There are now some 1.5 million electric bikes in the Netherlands and they make it easier for people to cycle more often and to cover longer distances.’ 

Bovag analysed figures from the CBS national statistics office and found people cycled an average of almost three kilometres a day last year. They also drive an average of 16 kilometres, which could easily be done by electric bike, Huyskens pointed out.

‘Electric bikes are a great alternative for commuters,’ he said. ‘We expect the amount of kilometres people cycle to continue to grow.’ 

Government cycling experts are recommending the introduction of a 25 kph speed limit on Dutch bike lanes to curb the impact of electric ‘super’ bikes. Electric bikes with speeds of up to 40 kph are now on sale in the Netherlands and there are concerns about their impact on cyclist safety.