The e-bikes of the year: the best innovations from top brands and underdogs

You are not alone in your search for a new e-bike. The bicycle industry is booming and picked up speed again in the Corona year 2020/2021. And there is still no end in sight. The official figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) make this clear.

• At the beginning of 2021, there were around 1.2 million electric bicycles in private households in Germany, which is 20 percent more than in the previous year. At the beginning of 2021 there were around 7.1 million electric bicycles in households (beginning of 2020: 5.9 million).
• These were spread across almost 5.1 million households (2020: 4.3 million). This means that around every eighth household (13%) in Germany owned at least one electric bicycle. At the beginning of 2020 it was still every ninth household (11%).
• The average price for a newly purchased bicycle (all categories, with and without a motor) was 1,279 euros in 2020. For comparison: in 2014 this price was still 528 euros.

Just which bike with a motor to take? The major manufacturers are presenting new e-bikes almost every day. We filter out the most interesting models for you here, you can find our selection in the gallery below. Below you can find out what you should look out for when buying an eBike.

You can find the Ebike innovations and a selection of accessories in the gallery above. One click takes you to the news.

Trend 1: Speed ​​is becoming more and more of an issue

Why reinvent the wheel every year? When looking at the innovations of the previous year, it is noticeable that the manufacturers are optimizing their successful eBikes from previous years instead of presenting completely new models. This trend is likely to continue in 2022.

At the same time, the desire for more speed on the e-bike is increasing. Manufacturers such as VanMoof are causing a stir with approaches that call for the speed level to be raised even for S-Pedelecs.

Instead, GPS zones should be set up in which the e-bike electronics reduce the speed. An e-bike in the city, for example, could travel at a maximum of 25 km/h. On the cycle highway, on the other hand, it could reach a top speed of 60 km/h.

The Dutch manufacturer VanMoof has apparently hit a nerve with its “Hyperbike”. Almost three months after the presentation of the VanMoof V, it has more than 10,000 pre-orders. More than a third of the pre-orders come from Germany.

A real alternative to the car has to offer more than a shopping basket on the handlebars. E-cargo bikes, also known as e-cargo bikes, transport all of the weekly shopping and chauffeur the youngsters around. Such cargo bikes are available in a wide variety of shapes and designs.

If you want to ride an e-bike all year round and want perfect weather protection, you will find manufacturers who offer e-bikes with a roof. In Germany, such models are still exotic, but they could prevail in the long term. Developed in Norway and built in Germany, the Podbike Frikar is set to really take off in 2022. The manufacturer has recorded many pre-orders for the four-wheeled e-bike with a roof.

Road Traffic Act amendment: more safety for cyclists

The legislature takes the trend towards two-wheelers into account not only by building so-called pop-up cycle paths, but also in its amendment to the Road Traffic Act (STVO) from last year. It came into force on April 28th, 2020 and contains, among other things, the following important points for riding an e-bike:

• Distance when overtaking: Cars must now keep a distance of 1.5 meters in urban areas when overtaking cyclists or e-scooters. Out of town it is 2.0 meters.
• There may be an express, general ban on overtaking two-wheelers at bottlenecks.
• In some places, special parking spaces are set up for large cargo bikes.
• The green arrow when turning (sign at traffic lights) now also applies to cyclists. A separate sign is planned.
• As with 30 km/h zones, there will also be bicycle zones in the future. Municipalities can only let cyclists pass here, unless an extra sign allows other road users.

What to look out for when buying a pedelec

Almost everyone who is thinking about buying or leasing a bicycle today also has e-bikes on their radar. But do you also know what you should pay particular attention to when buying a motorbike? What different concepts are there, where is the disadvantage of a front engine and what battery size makes sense? We provide answers to such questions in the following video purchase advice.

In the video purchase advice, we give you lots of tips on what to look out for when buying an e-bike.

More background information about e-bikes

There is also the option of quickly switching from a bicycle to an eBike with the help of e-bike kits. You can find out whether it’s worth it and where the possible pitfalls lie in the linked article.

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