MOTORCYCLE sales in Europe rose by 9.9% in 2018, but over the same period sales of electric motorcycles rose by 81.5% - so while battery-powered bikes are still a small fragment of the market they’re by far the fastest-growing segment.
But which countries have welcomed the electric bike revolution? So far, a mere 0.75% of bikes sold in Europe are electric, but that’s far from constant across the continent.
These are the ten biggest markets for electric motorcycles, not including low-performance electric mopeds, in Europe:
10: Poland: 60 registrations
Bikes aren’t huge sellers in Poland, with a total market of only 14,550 in 2018, but even so the fact that only 60 of them were electric means it falls behind the average ratio of electric bike sales, with battery-powered models making up only 0.41% of the market. However, there were 1419 electric mopeds sold as well, representing a more impressive 8.64% of the moped market.
9: Czech Republic: 62 registrations
OK, so only 62 bikes isn’t exactly going to be making electric motorcycle manufacturers into millionaires, but the Czech Republic still made it to 10th place in the electric bike sales rankings. It’s not a big bike market full stop, but the electrics are just 0.44% of the total, well below the European average. There were 270 additional electric mopeds registered there, though.
8: United Kingdom: 181 registrations
For a nation that embraces motorcycling more than most, we’re still a bit backwards when it comes to electrics over here. In fact, with only 181 electric bikes sold in the UK in 2018, they account for a mere 0.18% of the total market (100,439 motorcycles were registered during the year). Electric mopeds did a little better, accounting for 353 sales (6.57% of the 5375 total moped sales in the UK).
7: Belgium: 183 registrations
With 183 electric motorcycles registered in a total motorcycle market of 23,936, Belgium’s battery-powered bikes make up a near-average 0.76% of the market. But that’s far from the whole story, as the country also saw an astonishing 10,248 electric moped registrations – nearly half of its total moped market of 21,391.
6: Austria: 314 registrations
Austria’s a fairly small place, and in 2018 its motorcycle market accounted for a total of 11,866 registrations. That means the 314 electric motorcycles make up 1.21% of bike sales, far above the European average. The trend continues in the moped market, where 1583 were sold, some 13.34% of the total 11,866 moped sales in Austria.
Head to page two for the top five >>>
