Results from the North American E-bike Owner

Survey

TRB Emerging Vehicles for Low Speed Transportation

Subcommittee – January 2018

John MacArthur

Research Associate

Portland State University

UNITED STATES E-BIKE

USER SURVEY

U.S. e-Bike Survey

Survey Methodology

• Adapted from 2013 survey

• The survey was distributed

through industry distribution

channels, e-bike blogs &

forums, Facebook pages,

Twitter accounts, & retailers.

• May – June 2017

• 1,790 e-bike U.S. owners

responded to the survey

DEMOGRAPHICS &

PURCHASING DECISIONS

Geography of survey respondents

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Less than $15,000

$15,000 - $24,999

$25,000 - $34,999

$35,000 - $49,999

$50,000 - $74,999

$75,000 - $99,999

$100,000 - $149,999

$150,000+

I prefer not to answer

Demographics

Income

70%

29%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Male Female

Gender

85%

4%

4%

3%

3%

1%

1%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

White or Caucasian

Asian

Prefer not to say

Other

Hispanic or Latino/Latina

Black or African American

American Indian or…

Race

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

18 to 24

25 - 34

35 to 44

45 to 54

55 to 64

65 or older

Age

Demographic summary

28% indicated that they have a physical condition that

makes riding a standard bike difficult (n=1502)

93% did cycle as an adult with a standard bicycle

n=1501

16%

37%34%

10%

2% 1%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Excellent Very good Good Fair Poor I prefer not toanswer

How would you describe your general state of health?

Purchase Decisions80% purchased an e-bike,

while 20% converted a standard bike to electric-assist.

Of the converted bicycles, 60% were newly purchased.

What type of e-bike did you have?

n=1790

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Standardbike

Mountainbike

Step-thru Cargo Trike Folding Other

Pe

rce

nta

ge

%

In which year did you purchase your e-

bike/conversion kit?

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

2005or

before

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

80%

How familiar were you with e-bikes before

you purchased yours?

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Very familiar Somewhat familiar Somewhatunfamiliar

Very unfamiliar

%

How satisfied are you with your e-bike?

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Very satisfied

Satisfied

Neutral

Unsatisfied

Very unsatisfied

E-BIKE USE

Barriers that Limited Cycling Before

Purchasing an E-bike

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Hills made cycling difficult

Distances to places I wanted to go were too far

I biked enough already

Not physically able

I didn't like to arrive sweaty to my destination

Biking was too slow

I couldn't carry the things I needed (cargo or…

Weather conditions

Other (Please specify)

Concern for my safety

Other people relied on me to take my car…

Difficulty storing or securing bicycles

Top Ranked Choice Top 3 Choices

Motivations for Purchasing an E-bike

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Because I live or work in a hilly area

For recreation purposes

A medical condition reduced my ability

To replace car trips

To ride with less effort

To increase fitness

To ride longer distances to places I…

To carry cargo or kids

T0 start cycling or to cycle more often

It's a cost effective from of transportation

Other

For environmental reasons

To avoid traffic in my car

To be able to keep up with friends/family

To avoid parking hassles in my car

Top Ranked Choice Top 3 Choices

Bike Ridership Rates

4.36.2

19.3

14.7

30.3

25.1

35.6

6.3

18.2

12.4

19.3

8.3

0.9 1.8

5.8

42.3

49.2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Pe

rce

nt

of

Re

sp

on

de

nts

Rode Standard Bicycle before Owning an E-bike Ride Standard Bicycle Now Ride E-Bike now

Mode Used for Various Trip Types Made

by Respondents

5.9 5.3 4.9 4.9

29.6

34.0

29.1

18.416.4

44.5

28.2

48.8

35.6

29.1

5.53.0

8.6

31.4

34.0

3.4

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Commuting PersonalErrands

Visiting Family Entertainment Exercise orRecreation

Pe

rce

nt

of

Re

sp

on

de

nts

Walk Bicycle*

E-bike* Drive alone*

Carpool/passenger/drive with someone else* Public Transit

Taxi/Uber/Lyft Bike share

Car share (e.g. Car2Go, ZipCar) Other

I do not partake in this activity

Last three times you used an e-bike…how

did you use it?0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Commute (work or school)

Entertainment, dining out, orsocializing

Personal errands

To visit family and friends

Exercise or recreation

Other

Ride 1 Ride 2 Ride 3All Respondents

Last three times you used an e-bike...how

would have you gotten there instead0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Walk

Drive Alone

Bike

Carpool/passenger/Drive with…

Public Transit

Taxi/Uber/Lyft

Bike Share

Car share (e.g. Car2Go, ZipCar)

Other

I would not have taken this trip

Ride 1 Ride 2 Ride 3All Respondents

If They Didn’t Have an E-bike: Trips

Replaced by E-bike

Percent of Trips by Mode that Would Have Been Used

Instead of E-bike

Active

Transportation

and Transit*

Automobile**

Would not

Have Taken

this Trip

Other***

Commute (Work or School) 40 46 1 36

Entertainment 8 9 4 6

Recreation or Exercise 29 9 89 39

Personal Errands 19 30 3 12

Visit Friends/Family 3 5 1 1

Other 1 1 2 6

Number of trips 1063 1778 987 69

Mileage/Trip 9 9 14 11

* Includes walk, standard bicycle, and transit

** Includes Drive Alone, Carpool and Taxi

*** Includes Other or not specified

Attitudes of E-bike Users

5.9

9.4

14.1

16.1

20

2

10

6.2

11

16.9

8.1

37.6

24.8

16.1

1.6

12.9

18.7

22

77.2

82.6

48.3

59.1

63.9

96.4

77.1

75.1

67

0 20 40 60 80 100

An e-bike's speed and acceleration is exciting.

My e-bike allows me to go farther than a standardbicycle.

My e-bike allows me to keep up with friends orfamily on bicycle rides.

To ride the same trip by a standard bicycle, Iwould need to shower at my destination.

I consciously conserve battery power when ridingmy e-bike.

I enjoy my overall riding experience on my e-bike

I ride my e-bike more than a standard bicyclebecause it is fun to ride

I would rather cycle than drive a car

It is important to reduce the amount of car trips Itake or fuel I use

Disagree or Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree or Strongly Agree

✔

✔

✔

Do you agree with the following statements?

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

I feel safe riding an e-bike.

I feel safe riding a standard bicycle.

On my e-bike, other road usersmisjudge my speed.

On my e-bike, I feel like I go fasterthan other cyclists

On average, I ride faster than I wouldon a standard bicycle.

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree

All Respondents

What are the benefits of riding an e-Bike?

What are the issues you have with an

e-bike?

Research Thrust Areas:

1. Market and User Behavior

2. Sustainability and Safety System Impacts

3. Health

4. Urban Freight

5. Shared LEVs

LEVER is a consortium of academia,

industry, government and non-government

organizations aimed to address collective

research needs of e-bikes and other LEVs.

LEVER is lead by researchers at University

of Tennessee and Portland State University

http://LEVresearch.com

Contact Information

John MacArthurPortland State University

macarthur@pdx.edu

Christopher R. Cherry

University of Tennessee

cherry@utk.edu

For more information & reports:

http://LEVresearch.com @LEVresearch

Questions