During the year ended July 31, U.S. sales of electric bikes doubled from a year earlier, according to the just released 2013 edition of Electric Bike Reports Worldwide, which is produced by eCycleElectric International Consultants.


Searches of Customs and Border Protection records, phone surveys of dealers, Internet searches and interviews of distributors and dealers have revealed a doubling of USA ebike sales in the last 12 months, the firm reported on its blog.

The firm reports that:


 


  • 908 retailers, (not including mass merchants such as Wal-Mart and Amazon) claim to be selling electric bikes.  These dealers include electric bike specialists, electric vehicle specialists, motor sports retailers, Internet retailers, independent bicycle dealers, hardware stores, car parts stores, and more. Major mass merchants such as Wal-Mart, Sears, Target, Best Buy, (and Amazon) are also participating, although not in all of their stores locations.

  • 134 brands were identified as being offered for sale through these channels. Of those brands, at least 54 imported new product during this period.  Some brands are represented by product left over or on close out, but at least 30 brands are clearly in business, active, and thought to be growing.

While most electric bikes are imported to the USA from factories in China or Taiwan, companies such as Prodeco and Optibike assemble in the USA. Some complete bikes come rom Europe.


Almost all parts (bicycle parts, motors, batteries, controllers, etc.)  used to assemble an electric bike are imported from China or Taiwan.  Estimates of the number of bikes assembled from these parts are included in the total estimate of U.S. sales for the 12 months ending in July 2013 of 159,000 units. Compared to estimated 70,000 the previous year.