Electric Scooters and Motorcycles Sales Set to Boom in Spain in Coming Years

In Europe, stringent standards for controlling vehicular emissions are being implemented, with a view to ultimately bringing down the rate of the degradation in the air quality. For instance, in the context of motorcycles, the European Union implemented the amended Directive 97/24/EC, Directive 2002/51/EC, and Euro 2 and 3 standards in 2012. Further, Euro 4 standards were implemented or motorcycles in 2016 and for scooters in 2017. This has, in a way, pushed up the demand for electric variants of these automobiles in the continent.

As a result, the European electric scooters and motorcycles market is predicted to grow from $167.2 million in 2018, at a 26.2% CAGR during 2019–2025, to $892.4 million by 2025. Apart from emission-control regulations, supportive policies by the government for the purchase of such electric vehicles (EV) are also helping raise their uptake. For instance, Government for Italy provided $11.34 million (EUR 10 million) as subsidies on the purchase of electric scooters, in a scheme valid till 2019 end.

Electric two-wheelers are powered by either a sealed lead–acid (SLA) battery or a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery. Among these, such EVs with Li-ion batteries would witness a rapidly increasing demand in the coming years, as such energy storage devices let the vehicle travel longer distances. This is because they have a higher energy density, which means that per unit mass, a higher amount of electric charge can be stored in these batteries, compared to SLA variants. Moreover, with constant research and development (R&D), the Li-ion battery prices are witnessing a slump.

On a regional basis, the fastest growing electric scooters and motorcycles market in Europe in the coming years would be Spain, as it accounts for the largest shared scooter fleet. In 2018, the Spanish shared scooter fleet numbered 8,920, which was a massive 498% increase from 2017. Similarly, the number increased in France to 4,870 in 2018 from 2,770 in 2017. In many European cities, especially in Spain, France, and Italy, the scooter culture is also already quite strong, and with the availability of electric models, their uptake would increase further.

Hence, with the growing emission concerns and supportive policies, the demand for electric two-wheelers will rise in Europe.

Source: P&S Intelligence