What is the market opportunity?
E-bike sales in the UK hit £310 million in 2022, a huge increase from just £55 million in 2017. This rapid surge in sales was partly driven by the COVID-19 pandemic which saw a “bike spike” as cycling was promoted as one way to stay active and safe. But, this spike has given way to a slow decline with imports now far exceeding demand, leading to a surplus of supply.
The Bicycle Association has reported that e-bike sales fell 7% in 2023 however, they remain far ahead of 2019 volumes and now represent 9% of all bike sales in the UK.
Industry analysts do expect to see significant growth in the market in 2024 as more consumers become aware of and experience e-bikes, with a study by Mintel finding that 43% of UK adults would like to test ride an e-bike. However, this growth will only be achieved if we engage the next group of adopters and generate more mass market appeal for e-bikes.
E-Bikes on Auto Trader
As of August 2024, there are currently circa. 1,500 e-bikes advertised on Auto Trader, the UKs largest automotive platform.
E-bikes continue to grow in popularity on our site, with August 2024 seeing the volume of e-bikes searches on our platform rise by 67% year-on-year, with almost 30,000 consumers viewing an e-bike that month.
We're also working to drive more consumers to engage with e-bikes. Our teams have created content focussed on the benefits of e-bikes and we've been reaching out to lifestyle press to generate coverage around e-bikes.
E-bikes have also featured in our monthly EV Giveaway. So far, we've ran two dedicated e-bike giveaways which generated 300k entries and, in the months these campaigns ran, generated record numbers of advert views for e-bikes.
Top ten most popular e-bikes on Auto Trader
(As of August 2024)
Make
Model
Share of advert views
Vmoto
Super Soco TS
11%
CUBE
Stereo
7%
Talaria
X3 MX off-road
4%
Sting R road legal L1E
3%
RFN
Rally Pro
Revolution
2%
BMW
C Evolution
Yamaha Cycles
Cross Core RC
Super Soco TC Max
Yamaha
Booster Easy
The commuter opportunity
One of the primary targets for e-bikes is the commuter market, the segment of society most likely to see the benefits of e-bikes. 64% of consumers commute, with an average daily commute of 29 minutes at an average daily cost of £7, time and cost that could potentially be reduced by an e-bike.
However, only a small percentage of commuters currently own an e-bike, with 76% of commuters we surveyed indicating that they have never bought or considered an e-bike.
Whilst the majority of commuters are yet to begin their e-bike journey, there is an opportunity for near-term growth with 11% of commuters indicating they are looking to buy an e-bike. This represents a total pool of 3,797,912 commuters who are actively considering purchasing an e-bike in the next six months.
However, most commuters do have concerns about e-bike ownership, with 87% highlighting barriers that would prevent purchase in the near term. That does still leave a pool of 493,729 commuters with no reservations about e-bikes and who are considering buying an e-bike in the next so there is significant opportunity for the sector in the months ahead.
This pool of buyers will grow significantly as the barriers to purchase, which are highlighted in this report, are addressed by industry and government along with pulling out the major benefits commuters would see from e-bike ownership.
