How Electric Bikes Could Take Off in the UK

[EdBike]

I’ve had a great time reading through some of the threads on the Pedelecs Forums start-to-finish and seeing how people have made buying decisions, had positive and negative experiences with electric bikes which they’ve shared on the forums. You guys know what the big issues are.

The question that bugged me though, was despite this (and other sources like Electric Bike Magazine and A to B Magazines) being such an awesome ‘oracle’ of knowledge, the electric bike industry isn’t “taking off” in the UK. Whilst I don’t think any of us expect motorists to abandon their cars in their millions overnight, it’s safe to assume that we think electric bikes are a pretty good idea, and are the answer to a lot of problems like congestion, sustainable transport, fitness...

This question bugged me, and after researching the industry pretty extensively it became apparent that there’s a large number of small players all trying to sell hard, and for a new-comer it’s kind of daunting - people couldn’t have found this forum too soon.

The problem though is this forum takes a bit of finding. Despite there being around 27,000 searches just for ‘electric bikes’ (not any other variations) each month in the UK alone - that’s ~900 per day - most of these are just confronted with sales pitches. Who spends money just like that?

After researching some more and over it thinking long and hard, I came up with an idea, a strategy to help market electric bikes in the UK. One way or another I ended up on the phone to David Miall of BEBA and Wisper last week talking over potential grants for the electric bikes industry and mentioned an outline of my idea. He said it was “brilliant” and I should share it.

So here it is. Have a look through and see what you think: Let's Unite

 

[fcurran]

A great idea and website, well done. Just be aware keeping specs up to date will be very tricky. Here at Powabyke it is a constant battle keeping dealers updated with improvements, new spec, or simply new models let alone keeping the general public updated. Mediums such as Twitter and Facebook are becoming increasingly popular to keep everyone updated as people will log on to Facebook or Twitter on a regular basis, rather than log on to a manufacturers website. Manufacturers websites are only generally used when a person requires specific information on a product.

Good luck with this though, Im sure you will get lots of support from this site and it's contributers.

Kind Regards

FrankC

 

[flecc]

Nice idea Ed, co-incidentally arriving just as a new guide book is being launched titled "Electric Bicycles", including a buyers guide, technology and history. I've done a three page review on it which appears in the latest edition of A to B magazine going out now.

Also member Roni Pozner has only recently launched the Electric Bike Guide website listing as far as possible all the bikes on the market and links. It's probably best you get together I think, since there seems to be a lot of duplication involved.
.

 

[EdBike]

Just be aware keeping specs up to date will be very tricky.

Hi Frank,

Sure. Perhaps creating a master database or something similar which you guys can submit any changes to which can be pushed out to dealers and published on our websites. You can do this with RSS technology (which means you can also automatically update Twitter/Facebook feeds).

Private message chat?

Co-incidentally arriving just as a new guide book is being launched titled "Electric Bicycles", including a buyers guide, technology and history. I've done a three page review on it which appears in the latest edition of A to B magazine going out now.

Also member Roni Pozner has only recently launched the Electric Bike Guide website listing as far as possible all the bikes on the market and links. It's probably best you get together I think, since there seems to be a lot of duplication involved.

Living up to guru status as always. I've ordered the Electric Bikes Guide, and had the authors Richard Peace and David Henshaw contribute to the first project here: Benefits of Electric Bikes | Interviewing Electric Bikes Experts

Roni's site came onto my radar a couple of weeks back. I'm really aiming at the UK market exclusively, whereas Roni's site isn't region specific. I think he's based in Tel Aviv, and his recent documentation of every electric bike manufacturer show's he's got global ambitions. I'll definitely drop him an email - joint ventures in the pipeworks me thinks?

 

[flecc]

Good to hear that you are right on top of things Ed. I think a collaboration with Roni could be helpful to both, but your UK specific idea is likely to be more productive locally than trying to suit all the widely differing markets.
.

 

[EdBike]

A big part of this is making something that really benefits consumers. I've talked about creating collaborative reviews and creating a Verified Dealer Directory. But I think we can take it a step further...

There's two websites I'd love to show you guys:

Just Buy This One
Groupon

Just Buy This One is by the review site ReeVoo.com. It uses the data literally from *millions* of reviews to suggest a single product in a single category. And if you're not happy, they'll handle everything from returns to refunds to replacements. Amazing...

The second, Groupon, is a community of collective buying. A business lists its offer "If 100 people signup to eat a three-course dinner in my restaurant for £10 each, we'll make it happen". Groupon promotes this to their buyers list and if the 100 person limit is reached, the deal is done. Really awesome, and they're now in the UK. (This is their business website which explains how they work best: GrouponWorks)

Really cool! So how do we make it work with electric bikes? First, we need to gather enough data to make really accurate recommendations. That's why sometime in Spring 2011 I'd like to organize a meetup (maybe a couple of meetups?) where we can gather a bunch of electric bikes and a bunch of reviewers for the day and see what happens.

Then, we need to find the dealers who'd be interested in participating in a 'groupon-esque' voucher exchange which people can buy, and redeem at a participating dealership. That way, electric bike businesses get awesome leads, new electric bike owners get an amazing e-bike that they're happy with and the people behind the tribe who have created this get the power to stop any businesses who aren't customer friendly and also benefit in other ways.

This is smart e-commerce, and it's open to your ideas. If you missed the link at the top, take a look here at how and why you can take part. It only takes a few minutes.

Good to hear that you are right on top of things Ed. I think a collaboration with Roni could be helpful to both, but your UK specific idea is likely to be more productive locally than trying to suit all the widely differing markets.
.

And yourself? Besides your tireless effort put into this forum your websites are well worth promoting. I'll be in touch...

 

[fatts]

Hi and thank you for the article I shall give it a read when I have time
regards
Fatts

 

[EdBike]

Reading this: Collective intelligence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Explains the theories behind my idea in Wiki-detail. Funny, wikipedia is it's own form of collective intelligence.

 

[eddieo]

Ed you are making me feel very old (another Ed)

I think the internet is at last opening up to its true potential... Particularly with recent group action etc......A real tonic for an old anarchist and ex member of the Tooting popular front

 

[flecc]

Sadly there is also that less unrecognised phenomena, collective stupidity.

Depending on one's point of view, they often co-exist.
.

 

[EdBike]

Ed you are making me feel very old (another Ed)

I think the internet is at last opening up to its true potential... Particularly with recent group action etc......A real tonic for an old anarchist and ex member of the Tooting popular front

I think there aren't enough Ed's in the world

The internet allows us to do cool things together. And yes Flecc, that does include collective stupidity. YouTube is a great example.

I'd hope though that any possible stupidity will be weeded out, since staying motivated to do stupid things is, well stupid!

We'll see what happens. So far it's looking good; a handful of subscribers and just spent a few minutes uploading more responses to this page here: Benefits of Electric Bikes | Interviewing Electric Bikes Experts

 

[NRG]

Agreed and Wikipedia can exemplify this at times.

Sadly there is also that less unrecognised phenomena, collective stupidity.

Depending on one's point of view, they often co-exist.
.

 

[ronipozn]

A great idea and website, well done. Just be aware keeping specs up to date will be very tricky. Here at Powabyke it is a constant battle keeping dealers updated with improvements, new spec, or simply new models let alone keeping the general public updated. Mediums such as Twitter and Facebook are becoming increasingly popular to keep everyone updated as people will log on to Facebook or Twitter on a regular basis, rather than log on to a manufacturers website. Manufacturers websites are only generally used when a person requires specific information on a product.

Good luck with this though, Im sure you will get lots of support from this site and it's contributers.

Kind Regards

FrankC

I don't understand how Facebook or Twitter can help us with showing updated specs of e-bikes and why would we want to do this? Facebook/Twitter are moer for promoting a product, doesn't it?

 

[ronipozn]

Living up to guru status as always. I've ordered the Electric Bikes Guide, and had the authors Richard Peace and David Henshaw contribute to the first project here: Benefits of Electric Bikes | Interviewing Electric Bikes Experts

Roni's site came onto my radar a couple of weeks back. I'm really aiming at the UK market exclusively, whereas Roni's site isn't region specific. I think he's based in Tel Aviv, and his recent documentation of every electric bike manufacturer show's he's got global ambitions. I'll definitely drop him an email - joint ventures in the pipeworks me thinks?

I live in Haifa and not Tel Aviv

Anyhow, you offered a great idea, there is also another new site: which is trying to implement a similar idea to yours. It's a branch site of another site called: Electric Bike, Ebikes, Electric Bicycles, E Bike, Reviews, E Bikes.

You should also check with him his future planning regarding this project. He basically offered the same idea
and asked people to help him find & rank e-bikes stores from around the world.

It's sure not going to be easy and it's maybe a better idea to start with only the UK (in your case).

If I will do it in Israel for example, I will finish locating all the e-bikes stores in about 2 hours, as there are probably not more then 20 stores in all the country

Also, although I've also have an e-bike website, from my experience (and I'm trying to promote e-bikes also in the real world), people don't really understand what e-bikes are all about until the moment they actually step on one. Then, some of them instantly hooked up with the idea and want one. So all the online reviews, educating, etc is a good idea but it's need to come along with a real world experience and this is something completely different to consider...

About the reviews, I've collected many reviews in the last 2 years for many different e-bikes brands. I've a couple of hundreds of them ordered fanatically It's just that i'm still thinking about my original idea! for building an e-bike as part of my Aerodynamics degree combined with Phd in solar cells degree I just wanted to get inspired by all the thing that currently on the market or being in developing stage.

So i've decided recently that if I have all this articles, why not publish them. So I started, and it's only the beginning, but this is how it's look like for Optibike for example: Optibike

Anyhow, I will be happy to corporate and help. You can start, if you want, by looking at the list of the UK e-bikes brands in this link: United Kingdom Brands

 

[EdBike]

I live in Haifa and not Tel Aviv

Anyhow, you offered a great idea, there is also another new site: Electric Bike Store Directory | E Bike Store | Electric Bike Shops | E-Bike Rentals | Electric Bicycle Tours | Ebike Repairs which is trying to implement a similar idea to yours. It's a branch site of another site called: Electric Bike, Ebikes, Electric Bicycles, E Bike, Reviews, E Bikes.

You should also check with him his future planning regarding this project. He basically offered the same idea
and asked people to help him find & rank e-bikes stores from around the world.

It's sure not going to be easy and it's maybe a better idea to start with only the UK (in your case).

If I will do it in Israel for example, I will finish locating all the e-bikes stores in about 2 hours, as there are probably not more then 20 stores in all the country

Also, although I've also have an e-bike website, from my experience (and I'm trying to promote e-bikes also in the real world), people don't really understand what e-bikes are all about until the moment they actually step on one. Then, some of them instantly hooked up with the idea and want one. So all the online reviews, educating, etc is a good idea but it's need to come along with a real world experience and this is something completely different to consider...

About the reviews, I've collected many reviews in the last 2 years for many different e-bikes brands. I've a couple of hundreds of them ordered fanatically It's just that i'm still thinking about my original idea! for building an e-bike as part of my Aerodynamics degree combined with Phd in solar cells degree I just wanted to get inspired by all the thing that currently on the market or being in developing stage.

So i've decided recently that if I have all this articles, why not publish them. So I started, and it's only the beginning, but this is how it's look like for Optibike for example: Optibike

Anyhow, I will be happy to co-oporate and help. You can start, if you want, by looking at the list of the UK e-bikes brands in this link: United Kingdom Brands

Hi Roni!

Glad you posted. I really like the ebikestorehq.com site and there's lots of potential for something along those lines. He's more routing along a shear quantity of electric bike stores though - he could probably build (or pay someone to build) a crawler to find electric bike stores all over the world and post them on his site. I'll definitely contact him.

I'm hoping to go down the quality route, and just feature and promote the best electric bikes and the best dealers. The basic idea is a headache to do on your own either way.

Someone could be directed to a dealer and have a terrible experience, which would defeat the point of promoting them in the long run. And of course, people would share their bad experiences with their friends online and harm the industry's image.

I'd love to see the results from a solar powered electric bike. You'll definitely get better results anywhere except the UK!

 

[Straylight]

To look at this from a different angle, I think the best way to promote ebikes is to get people to try them. When talking to people who are pro cycling, but ebike virgins, they don't really understand the attraction no matter how much information I spout at them. They understand within the first five seconds of getting on the thing however.

I think the industry needs to do more to get people to have a go without obligation, and perhaps think beyond the normal circuit of trade shows, which ultimately have an emphasis on trade and tradespeople. How about taking a few into secondary schools and sixth form colleges to embed the experience of an alternative means of transport in the people who'll have the disposable income of the future? Or holding local events in parks around the country?

I think the simplification of the information gathering process is laudable and to be encouraged, but you need more people to be actively seeking the data in the first place.

 

[EdBike]

To look at this from a different angle, I think the best way to promote ebikes is to get people to try them. When talking to people who are pro cycling, but ebike virgins, they don't really understand the attraction no matter how much information I spout at them. They understand within the first five seconds of getting on the thing however.

I think the industry needs to do more to get people to have a go without obligation, and perhaps think beyond the normal circuit of trade shows, which ultimately have an emphasis on trade and tradespeople. How about taking a few into secondary schools and sixth form colleges to embed the experience of an alternative means of transport in the people who'll have the disposable income of the future? Or holding local events in parks around the country?

I think the simplification of the information gathering process is laudable and to be encouraged, but you need more people to be actively seeking the data in the first place.

You're right. I remember when I first got on an electric bike. It was in London, I was visiting Mark at Ultra Motor and went out and rode the A2B Hybrid and A2B metro around London.

For those who haven't tried the A2B Hybrid in particular, I can sum it up in one word: torque. It's so powerful, but that didn't stop us from cranking it up to full power and giving it a whirl

What was really noticeable was whenever we stopped at a junction, or to swap bikes and everyone asked "hey, what's that?" and went through the typical "wow, so how far can it go?", "how long does it take to charge up" and "so how much does this cost?".

Despite their amazement, they'd never have whipped out their credit cards there and then. They're only interested - so having a community-collaborated resource for them to look through in their own time would help them. Explaining the benefits of trying one out, and from getting on one the desire creeps in leading to action.

Maybe we need to try just getting lots of people to try them all at once. Can we take over Hyde Park maybe during the summer? You guys up for that?

The sixth form colleges idea is interesting - I'm studying for my A Levels at the moment, but I can't imagine it would get the warmest reception since everyone's thinking of passing driving tests. The car culture however doesn't carry through to Uni where most people walk, cycle or take the bus since cars are inpractical and too costly. I think a student-incentive scheme could work well?

 

[Straylight]

Absolutely, particularly with fuel prices at an all time high (though the current weather may be too much at the moment ). The reason I suggested local events was to point to the fact that people aren't going to want to travel to try something that has never occurred to them. Hyde Park would be great as a media event, but perhaps of limited value when it comes to promoting ebikes, considering that London has the best public transport infrastructure in the country. I was thinking more of regional events in places where the commuting distances are greater, and the busses fewer. These are places where the notion of cycling to work/college is more of an alien concept, and so there are more drivers to convert.

 

[EdBike]

Absolutely, particularly with fuel prices at an all time high (though the current weather may be too much at the moment ). The reason I suggested local events was to point to the fact that people aren't going to want to travel to try something that has never occurred to them. Hyde Park would be great as a media event, but perhaps of limited value when it comes to promoting ebikes, considering that London has the best public transport infrastructure in the country. I was thinking more of regional events in places where the commuting distances are greater, and the busses fewer. These are places where the notion of cycling to work/college is more of an alien concept, and so there are more drivers to convert.

That doesn't rule out Hyde Park? Commuting in London can still be an absolute pain, especially commuting from outside of the Zone 1/2 into Zone 1/2. I hear what you're saying though - maybe localized events in places like Sheffield (hilly!)

We should organize something for the New Year, maybe for the Spring or Summer?

 

[tappy]

I don't think there is one quick fix to 'How Electric Bikes could take off in the UK'.

There are many parts to help drive the market forward. I have a lot of experience in the Cycle Trade and Sporting Goods market and now dedicating my time, experience and energy into the UK e-bike Market through Storck Raddar e-bikes.

Yesterday I was with fiends and associates at Furure Publishing in Bath. Future Publishing have the largest portfolio of Cycling titles around the World including Bike Radar, Cycling News.com, Pro Cycling, Cycling Plus, Mountain Bike UK, What Mountain Bike and Triathlon plus.

I met with Richard Schofield (Publishing director of Cycling and Sports titles) to discuss the current e-bike market and the opportunity to help drive the UK e-bike market forward to a mainstream audience with a Future Publishing e-bike title, either on-line, print or both. Currently Cycling Plus has been carrying reviews and editorial of e-bikes but they don’t have a specific title similar to ElektroRad in Germany.

Richard agreed that there is sufficient e-bike business and consumer interest in the UK for Future Publishing to offer an e-bike section to Bike Radar.com. I hope this will create enough interest and business to then produce a National Monthly e-bike Title for publication.

I see this as just one part of growing the market to a more mainstream audience. Another part as already discussed here is getting new bums on e-bikes. I plan to support our dealer network with demo days and and hope to encourage other suppliers to join in also.

Happy to discuss, and have a great Christmas and New Year.