E-Bike boom continues  

Electric bikes are gaining popularity in Switzerland - with latest statistics showing that the market could rise by up to 25% this year. 

A mountain e-bike user in Verbier this summer Keystone / Laurent Gillieron

“The use of bikes and e-bikes in commuting, daily and spare time cycling was already rising steeply before and during the corona lockdown,” noted the Swiss Bicycle Suppliers Association in a statementExternal link. “The trend has become concrete through clearly rising sales figures for e-bikes.” 

In 2018 the e-bike market rose by 27%, due to a high demand for electric mountain bikes, it said. In 2019 the total e-bike market rose by 19% (133,033 bikes, a record). “2020 could see an increase in sales that is similar to that in 2018,” the statement said. 

According to data from the Federal Customs Administration, e-bike imports rose by just under 24% between July 2019 and June 2020. This is the equivalent of around 165,000 e-bikes, the association said.  

E-bikes’ popularity is however coming partly at the cost of normal bikes, the statement continued, with figures pointing to a smaller rise in the sales of bicycles so far (2.2%).

The bike is back 

The general demand for bikes nevertheless remains high, even when the weather is unstable, the statement continued. Previously rain and cool weather had put people off. “But this is not the case this year,” it said.  

Bike factories and repair shops continue to be busy, the Swiss office for bicycles and e-bikes noted. 

Bicycle usage – including dusting off old bikes – soared in Switzerland during the lockdown, as swissinfo.ch has previously reported. Most cyclists probably discovered cycling for fun whilst at home. But “there are undoubtedly others who turned to bikes, particular electric bikes, to go to work”, Daniel Schärer, director of 2roues SuisseExternal link, a trade association for two-wheel vehicles, told swissinfo.ch in May.