The year 2023 was marked by a number of trends, innovations and other major revolutions in the world of electric bikes and electric scooters. The opportunity to take a look in the rearview mirror to establish a non-exhaustive retrospective, but each event of which has definitely marked this vintage.
How eventful it was, this year 2023. Both in the world of electric bikes and electric scooters, where the lines have constantly moved, where the gloomy economic situation has upset more than one, where new trends have attracted everyone the largest manufacturers, where French innovation has been at the forefront of the European scene.
We will remember this 2023 vintage. We will remember it for its multiple bankruptcies and other financial difficulties, for the cargo bike madness which punctuated the whole year, for the withdrawal of electric scooters in Paris, for the 100% French framework of Mustache or for the numerous innovations in terms of engines.
This retrospective retraces these five major events of the year.
Cargo bike madness
Cargo bikes – longtail, bicarrier and tricycle – have clearly been one of the main attractions of the market in 2023. All the manufacturers (or almost) have used their model. This category of bicycle had already experienced some success last year, where sales jumped by 96% (17,000 to 33,000 models) between 2021 and 2022.
It must be said that their elongated format – at the front or at the rear depending on the version – has many advantages for families. In addition to opening up the field of possibilities, it is an excellent alternative to the car for getting around town: taking your children to school, shopping with them or simply joining friends or relatives is all within reach. possible with this type of machine.
For their part, biporters are aimed at both families and professionals, thanks to their greater load capacity. When scooters are more tailored to businesses, which have also taken the step of cycling. Such a vehicle avoids traffic jams and tends to save time.
The new developments in this area obviously cannot be counted on the fingers of our two hands, as there have been so many of them. When Decathlon launched the second version of its R500 Elec, its main competitor, Nakamura (Intersport brand) released its Crossover Longtail which we were able to preview. Release scheduled for December 2023.
Decathlon has even gone further by positioning itself in the two-wheeler niche: its Cargobike F900E Velo Cargo was presented on October 11, during the Reveal Decathlon, in Lille, to which Frandroid was present. A two-wheeler which in this case targets families thanks to excellent standard equipment. The touch of Decathlon, in short.
Many big names in cycling have also embarked on the cargo bike adventure: let’s mention Cannondale with its Wonderwagen and Cargowagen, Specialized with its Haul LT, Cube and its Longtail Hybrid or even Trek with the Fetch+ 2 which we have already tried. Proof that the segment is in vogue and that it arouses desire.
Finally, it is difficult to omit the names of VéloMad (Cargo Mad), Toyota (Cargo Verso), Peugeot (Digital eLongtail and the Concept Digital eFront Load), Jean Foudre, Tern (HSD update) or the third version of the Gaya Cargo .
It will be very interesting to observe the 2023 sales figures: without a doubt, cargo bikes should once again experience a significant leap forward.
Cascading bankruptcies
From the middle of the year until November, numerous bankruptcies were declared in the electric bicycle sector. The most emblematic and brutal of them is none other than the Dutch VanMoof, who nevertheless found a way out in the “person” of Lavoie, a subsidiary of McLaren Applied.
We have written a complete report on the bankruptcies of recent months (Kiffy, Probikester, Revonte, QWIC, Gleam) as well as the financial difficulties experienced by other companies (Rad Power Bikes, Flyer, Swapfiets). Beyond these sad events, we must above all understand why we got to this point.
This phenomenon can be explained quite simply: post Covid-19, demand has exploded. Manufacturers have placed large orders with Asian suppliers (frame, transmission, brake), who have not necessarily increased their production volume. A bottleneck was then created, causing very serious delays.
To this must be added significant shortages of components and raw materials – such as aluminum, essential for bicycle frames –, a surge in sea freight rates and above all, a significant drop in demand at the start of 2023. The problem, This is because manufacturers found themselves at that time with large stocks to sell.
Some players therefore collapsed due to lack of sufficient liquidity. Sales were sluggish, the cost of overstocking weighed down certain finances, increased competition strained the market and the famous falling demand (partly due to inflation) got the better of certain companies.
The 100% French setting of Mustache
One of the major ecological challenges of electric bicycles is to reduce its environmental impact. To do this, it is necessary to relocate the assembly sites, but also and above all the production sites. This is what the French brand Mustache managed to achieve with its Mustache J, whose frame is made in France.
Remember that the vast majority of bicycle frames are imported from Asia. With this initiative, Mustache favors the short circuit. “ We went from 15,000 km from Taiwan to less than 1000 km with this new process “, a representative of the brand told us.
The aluminum used comes from France and Italy, and is based on “a primary aluminum alloy“. In other words, “It is refined directly from the ore, without reprocessing of dross or other various aluminum residues. All scrap and surplus material is recycled by recasting”, we were told.
The Mustache J as a whole almost takes a back seat. In reality, we must above all welcome Mustache’s initiative, which shows all European stakeholders that it is possible to design a 100% French framework, in a short circuit. It is in some ways an example to follow, but which could necessarily put off some given the costs that it generates.
We must face the facts that no French brand – but never say never – will be able to claim 100% French manufacturing for all the parts of its bike. The sector is far too dependent on large Asian or European industries (Bosch, for example), whose quality, reliability and affordable costs make them essential in the cycle market.
Nonetheless, Mustache proves that there is still some room to negotiate. And not just any: that of the manufacture of a frame, which is none other than the chassis of the bicycle, the basis without which a cycle would simply not exist.
Promising new engines
An electric bike is nothing without a battery and a motor. For this last component, it is clear that innovation was there. We first think of Bosch and its Performance Line SX system, whose performance/weight ratio makes it essential for the year 2024.
Whether for electric gravels, e-MTBs or urban bikes, this Line SX – which we were able to test alongside our colleagues fromNumerama– is as powerful as a Performance Line CX (600 W peak, 340% assistance level), but much lighter than its partner: 2 kg. On the other hand, the torque drops to 55 Nm, which remains very reasonable in practice.
You only need to take a look at the announcements made during the second half of 2023 to realize to what extent the Performance Line SX holds a place of choice among many manufacturers and models. Examples include the Macina Gravelator SX 10 and SX Prime gravel bikes from KTM, the Ryvon VTTAE from Cownay and the urban Culture from Riese & Muller.
Other well-known names have also gone there with their novelty: the very renowned SRAM has entered the motor niche with its Eagle system equipped with automatic gears; French equipment manufacturer Mavic has revealed the ultra-light X-Tend intended for road bikes; Pinion has unsheathed its Motor.Gearbox.Unit (MGU) capable of shifting gears electronically.
What is certain is that the engine will still be the subject of technical advances during the year 2024, to respond to ever more uses, to keep the weight of our electric bikes as low as possible or to try to revolutionize conventional systems.
The withdrawal of electric scooters in Paris
In terms of electric scooters, it is their withdrawal from Paris that has left its mark. The town hall has in fact organized a consultative vote to seal the fate of electric scooters available for self-service and operated by Lime, Dott and Tier. At the beginning of April 2023, 89% of citizens voted against maintaining them.
The voting conditions rightly sparked controversy: proxies were prohibited, no electronic voting was put in place, the citizen consultation was organized on the day of the Paris marathon. Clearly, one could think that everything was put in place so that the final outcome of the vote would be in favor of the town hall, which had been unfavorable to the idea of retaining this service.
Operators had until September 1 to withdraw their 5,000 machines, representing a total fleet of 15,000 models. Obviously, personal electric scooters are not affected by this measure, nor even self-service electric bicycles, also managed by Lime, Dott and Tier.
For the 400,000 monthly users, we had to turn to other alternatives. Let us cite the aforementioned self-service VAEs, the Vélib, the rental or purchase of an electric bike, or more simply the acquisition of a scooter. Finally, note that Marseille has taken a similar initiative, removing 1,500 electric scooters from a fleet of 4,000 units.