(Image source: Tuworm Creative)
Pop is a reincarnation, and that's true.
When China's new energy vehicles held high the banner of going to sea and began to attack the European and American markets, young people in Europe and the United States had begun to ride E-bikes.
According to the forecast of Allied Market Research, the global e-bike market will reach $118.6 billion in 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of more than 10%.
In the face of such a huge "piece of cake", many domestic traditional electric bicycle manufacturers began to compete to go overseas, in addition to traditional forces, Tencent, DJI, Xiaomi and other technology giants have also made efforts and invested in a number of E-bike startups.
(Image source: E-bike)
What's so magical about E-bike? Easily "roll" out a new outlet with a scale of more than 100 billion US dollars to go overseas, and become another "new star" in the field of China's intelligent hardware going overseas.
E-bike ≠ electric bike
E-bike is the abbreviation of Electric bicycle, just look at the name, you may think that it and the electric bicycle is the same thing, but in fact, there is an essential difference between the two, the Chinese name of the E-bike is an electric bicycle.
The biggest difference from electric bicycles is that the E-bike is still equipped with the pedals of a traditional bicycle and maintains the appearance of a traditional bicycle to the greatest extent.
In addition to traditional bicycles, E-bikes have added components such as batteries, motors, and electronic controls, and in order to carry these parts, the strength of parts such as the frame has been improved compared to conventional bicycles.
At the same time, E-bike does not rely solely on electricity for driving, but uses electric energy to provide riders with a certain degree of assistance, making riding easier and less labor.
E-bikes are also richer than electric bicycles in use scenarios, not only for daily commuting, but also for urban cycling and outdoor off-roading, covering life scenarios such as commuting, leisure, and professional cycling.
(Image source: E-bike)
You would never expect that the first prototype of the E-bike, introduced by audio equipment manufacturer Yamaha in 1993, has developed different types of E-bikes after decades of development, with prices ranging from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.
It sounds like the E-bike has an extra electric drive than a traditional bicycle, so why did it explode abroad?
The popularity of Europe and the United States is not accidental
The explosion of E-bikes almost always occurs in developed regions of Europe and the United States, taking Europe as an example, in 2021 alone, the annual sales of E-bikes exceeded 5 million units.
The reason why E-bike is popular is that there are the following reasons:
First, technological progress is the underlying driving force.
Battery, motor, electronic control is the core components of E-bike, in the new energy vehicle industry technology development and capacity overflow, E-bike's three electric technology has also achieved a leap: lithium batteries began to gradually replace lead-acid batteries, motors began to develop towards integration, and equipped with controllers, torque sensors and other components.
Second, the epidemic is driven.
Under the epidemic lockdown, public transportation is in a state of suspension or semi-suspension most of the time, and the public is very inconvenient to travel, so they can only seek other ways to replace travel.
E-bike, which is more cost-effective than electric vehicles, more comfortable than traditional bicycles, more environmentally friendly than electric bicycles, and can reduce public contact, has entered the field of vision of consumers and won their favor.
Third, the impact of the energy crisis.
As European and American countries fall into an energy crisis, environmental protection needs are urgent, in addition to the country's stricter control of carbon emissions, the public's awareness of environmental protection has gradually awakened, and oil to electricity is the general trend.
With its electric drive characteristics, the E-bike has become the best travel tool to solve the energy crisis and environmental protection problems in the era of carbon neutrality and electrification.
Fourth, subsidies for "real money".
In recent years, European and American countries have launched E-bike subsidy policies, which has pushed the E-bike travel revolution in Europe and the United States to a new climax.
In California, eligible citizens can receive up to $7,500 in vouchers to purchase E-bikes. France can receive a subsidy of up to 4,000 euros for replacing an E-bike from 2023.
In addition to direct subsidies, many countries are driving market demand in other ways.
For example, the United Kingdom reduces taxes by renting E-bikes for a length of time, and can also be purchased at a low price after renting for a certain period of time, the Netherlands/Belgium/Italy can get $0.22/$0.26/0.25 euros per kilometer of riding, and Luxembourg can get $340 tax refund after buying a bicycle.
(Image source: E-bike)
Driven by technological upgrades, the outbreak of the epidemic, the energy crisis, subsidies and other factors, E-bike has become the most popular travel product in the European and American markets, and domestic capital and car companies have undoubtedly seen the business opportunities contained in it.
Chinese made, foreigners buy
Under the influence of the epidemic shutdown, E-bike has always been in short supply in the European and American markets, and the outbreak of overseas demand has also allowed Chinese companies to seize an excellent opportunity.
The old bicycle manufacturers Giant, Xidesheng, Phoenix, electric car brands Niu, Yadea, and Emma have all started to develop and produce various E-bike models to enter the European and American markets.
The biggest advantage of China's E-bike going overseas is mainly reflected in the supply chain and cost control, thanks to the mature supply chain system, the price of domestic E-bike products easily crushes foreign E-bikes, and the cost-effective E-bike easily captures the hearts of global consumers.
In 2022, Continental's exports of E-bikes reached 9,961,300 units, a y/y increase of 121%.
The market is hot, and capital is coming in with the wind.
E-bike, which combines environmental protection, technology, intelligent hardware, and overseas travel, is obviously an investment hotspot that cannot be ignored.
On January 9, 2023, electric bicycle R&D manufacturer TENWAYS completed the second Series A+ financing, this time with a financing amount of up to 300 million RMB, led by consumer investment company L Catterton and co-invested by China Imaging Capital.
EARLIER, TENWAYS HAD COMPLETED THREE ROUNDS OF FINANCING, WITH INVESTORS INCLUDING TENCENT, ALIBABA, ZHONGDING CAPITAL, AND HOOF CAPITAL.
Another E-Bike brand, Aventon, soared to $590 million after two rounds of funding. In addition to the above two companies, there are also a number of domestic E-bike start-ups that have gained the favor of capital.
(Image source: Western Post Logistics)
Whether from the export data of mainland E-bike or financing data, China's E-bike's overseas journey has been smooth sailing.
But supply chain going overseas is by no means equal to brand going abroad, if China's E-bike going overseas only stays on the supply chain advantage, it can only do bicycle assembly work, become the world's foundry, it is difficult to build a brand, get a brand premium.
At present, the low-end product market of E-bike is already a red ocean, and if you want to seize the highland in the high-end market, you must manufacture products that have both technology and brand premium.
Therefore, only those Chinese E-bike companies that insist on polishing their car manufacturing technology and rely on hard technology to build competitive barriers can gain the opportunity to compete head-on with global companies in overseas markets.
(Image source: E-bike)
It is foreseeable that the market potential of E-bike will continue to be released in the next few years, and we can wait and see who can have the last laugh at that time.
E-bike goes to sea and looks for Western Post
To help E-bike go to sea, Western Post Logistics has been in action.
Western Post has a complete digital supply chain logistics solution, which empowers sellers by reducing the occupation of inventory funds, reducing the logistics cost of the whole chain, and the three values of omni-channel inventory and one pallet of goods, and fully escorts E-bike to the sea.
Up to now, Xi Post Logistics has provided overseas services for more than 30 E-bike seller enterprises, and the volume of E-bike containers sold overseas through Western Post exceeds 4,000 every year.
Adhering to the concept of full self-operation, Western Post has built 6 major warehousing groups in Europe and the United States, with Duisburg, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Houston, Chicago and Atlanta and other European and American cities as the core, with 27 self-operated overseas warehouses and a storage area of more than 5 million square feet, and its business scope covers the whole of Europe and the United States, realizing two-day delivery in the United States and three-day delivery in Europe.
Whether it is a seller focusing on the E-bike category or other medium and large category sellers, you can achieve efficient overseas expansion through Western Post Logistics to ensure worry-free inventory, now scan the QR code below to understand the complete supply chain logistics solution of Western Post, and easily enjoy the big sale.