E-Bike Boosters Ask: Is It All Downhill From Here?

Venture capitalists climbed aboard the e-bike bandwagon. In 2021, Rad Power and VanMoof raised $300 million and $128 million, respectively, from investors anticipating ongoing growth.

That’ll be be when the trouble started.

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Flush with cash and accustomed to rising demand, many companies placed big orders for new models and parts. That proved to be a major miscalculation in 2022, when sales began to soften, leaving retailers and manufacturers with excess inventory.

Yep.

Something obvious is missing from most analyses of this problem: the rise of e-scooters. Specifically, the ones we can’t agree on a name for. Kick scooters, or foot scooters, or skateboards-with-handlebars or whatever they’re called. Like it or not, they’re much more practical than cumbersome e-bikes for short trips.