E-Bike Boosters Ask: Is It All Downhill From Here?
After a Covid-era boom, makers of battery-powered bikes are facing slowing sales, rising tariffs and a policy backlash. But these useful machines can still live up to their hype.
Cyclists ride electric bikes near the headquarters of e-bike maker Also in Palo Alto, California.
Photographer: Jason Henry/BloombergOver the last two years, e-bike companies have faced sagging demand along with escalating costs. The results have been brutal.
The carnage began when VanMoof, a high-profile e-bike manufacturer based in the Netherlands, declared bankruptcy in 2023. Since then Canadian e-bike makers iGO Electric and Dost Bikes have gone belly up, as have California-based EBC and Washington’s Propella. In December, Rad Power Bikes, an industry heavyweight valued at more than $1 billion just four years ago, filed for Chapter 11.