Tucson, Arizona (BRAIN)-with the PeopleForBikes e-bike summit-a one-day event-starting late last week, a key conclusion is that the industry is struggling to understand the fast-growing e-bike boom Impact.

Whether it is sales volume, average selling price, inventory, supply chain confusion, rider use, safety training, reporting of injuries and deaths of electric bicycles, supplier and seller responsibility, battery recycling, new trends in publicity, or the impact of Internet sales, the industry lacks accurate The baseline is used to measure the future potential of the electric bicycle industry.

At an all-day meeting held at a hotel near the University of Arizona campus, participants did not disagree that electric bicycles are transforming the industry from the traditional focus on so-called "acoustic" bicycles to a booming industry. -At least for now-the electric bicycle market. Nevertheless, at least for now, sales of traditional bicycles far exceed sales of electric bicycles.

Larry Pizzi, chief commercial officer of Alta Cycling Group and member of the PeopleForBikes board of directors, said at the opening of the meeting, "The achievements of electric bicycles in the past decade are amazing."

He pointed out that this epidemic has added a tailwind to the growth of electric bicycle sales, so the industry has realized that there are major concerns about safety, rider etiquette and other issues. "We did not anticipate this, but as it grows, we need to expand our definition of what an electric bicycle is and what it can become," he said.

A conference on security issues highlighted the problems that the industry may face in the future. The focus of the discussion was on children who seemed to adopt electric bicycles at a rate not seen in decades. However, they are often not ready to use powered bicycles and lack the basic knowledge of how to ride a bicycle safely, whether it is an electric bicycle or an acoustic bicycle.

Don DiCostanzo, Pedego's CEO, enthusiastically called on the industry to support rider training for children and adults. And, he added, maybe there should be an age limit on electric bike sales. It seems that many parents do not consider the consequences when buying electric bicycles for their children online.

For example, Pedego sees a large number of adult buyers entering the store, who have never ridden a bicycle since they were young. "They need some training and guidance," Dicostanzo said, adding that Pedego will soon implement e-bike rider training as part of sales.

Another issue that came up at the meeting was how to report electric bicycle accidents. Researchers from the University of Tennessee and another researcher from Portland State University are working on various projects to try to learn more about rider usage, modify accident codes to better describe e-bike accidents and how e-bike affects others Transportation system.

Ironically, Dr. Christopher Cherry, a professor at the School of Engineering at the University of Tennessee, told attendees that electric bicycle accidents—whether they were injuries or deaths—are currently classified as motorcycle accidents in the emergency room. The news surprised the participants.

However, children who ride electric bicycles have little or no training in battery-powered products, which is what the industry should pay most attention to.

Some participants expressed concern that if the industry does not take measures, cities, regions and states will take legislative actions that may adversely affect the industry. (PFB is about to launch a video as part of an industry-led safety campaign targeting municipalities, dealers, and advocates.)

But at present, due to the lack of statistical data on overall sales and where they occur, the industry cannot accurately predict future growth and trends. But to be fair, the specialty bicycle industry has long struggled to agree on the accuracy of the data compiled by the reporting agency.

For example, there seems to be a general consensus that the sales of electric bicycles in all channels in 2021 will be in the range of 1 million units-plus or minus several hundred thousand.

PFB's chief research analyst Jennifer Boldry said that the industry lacks overall data on electric bike sales, especially sales data through non-traditional channels is daunting.

"We are currently not seeing eIBD, direct-to-consumer, third-party e-commerce (think Amazon), and second-hand bicycle sales," she said. "We did not capture any of these data," Boldry added.

Among these 1 million products, Boldry estimates that approximately 300,000 products have been sold through traditional channels, but NPD's data only obtains 2% of sales through its reporting retailers. She said the result is a continuing underestimation of the market size and growth rate.

To illustrate her point, Boldry posted a Costco slide to advertise a folding electric bicycle that costs $399. At this price, it almost becomes an impulse purchase.

John MacArthur, a researcher at Portland State University, responded to widespread concerns about the lack of reliable data, especially passenger numbers. "We just don't know much," he said.

For example, no one knows the number of electric bike riders. "The numbers we have are not very accurate," MacArthur said. Complicating the problem is the lack of knowledge about how riders use electric bikes, whether for entertainment, transportation, or just going to the grocery store.

But one finding cited by MacArthur from a recent study is that the epidemic seems to have little effect on recreational riders. However, on the other hand, the practical use of electric bicycles and the use of shared bicycles seem to have declined.

Nevertheless, with the ups and downs of the pandemic, the use of shared bicycles seems to be returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Claudia Wasko, general manager of Bosch Electric Bicycle Systems in the United States, pointed out that EU countries have developed a series of data on the use of electric bicycles. "We really need more data from the United States," she said.

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