Electric motorcycle sales set to spike across the globe

COLORADO // Pike Research, a market research firm for renewable energies based in Colorado, has released a report saying it predicts that 466 million electric motorcycles of some sort will be sold worldwide between 2010 and 2016. Fifty six per cent of that market will be composed of electric bicycles, 43 per cent by electric motorcycles and only one per cent is predicted to be electric scooters, according to the report. Asia Pacific and China in particular will lead the market. Pike states that this region will represent more than 95 per cent of sales within the next six years. "Demographics and economics are aligning to create a strong market opportunity for two-wheel electric vehicles," says the industry analyst Dave Hurst, who assists Pike in its research. "In some countries, these vehicles will be engines of economic growth, while in others they will be signals of broader consumer behavioural shifts." The report says that the biggest market roadblocks is a lack of distribution channels or sales outlets for the vehicles.