America’s Best-Selling Electric Vehicles Ride on Two Wheels
Import data shows e-bikes outpacing electric cars in 2021.
The U.S. electric bike market continues to boom according to the latest figures from the Light Electric Vehicle Association. The U.S. imported nearly 790,000 electric two-wheelers in 2021 according to LEVA’s estimate, up from 463,000 in 2020. While not a sales figure, LEVA’s tally is a useful proxy for the state of the U.S. e-bike market. The trade group’s research suggests that e-bikes are the best-selling EVs in the country. Americans bought 652,000 electric cars in 2021, including plug-in hybrids, according to data from BloombergNEF:
Comprehensive sales data on e-bikes is hard to get. The NPD Group collects point-of-sale data from bike shops, outdoor stores, and other big-box retailers but does not capture direct-to-consumer brands such as Rad Power Bikes and VanMoof. NPD’s data also shows e-bike sales continuing to rise in 2021, with 368,000 units sold through the first 11 months of the year, compared to 273,000 in all of 2020.