VeloRUSH VeloPOINT Motorsports Magazine Fall 2013 | Page 58

E-bike Market Waking Up by Heather Marshman and Ed Benjamin ORONO, USA - When e-bikes first really emerged in the US market in the 1990’s, there were a handful of generic models available for sale. Merida, Currie, Yamaha, and Honda were all players, but no one model stood out from the others in terms of appearance, performance, and capability. People came into retail locations to buy an e-bike, not a Yamaha. Things have changed since those early says, but there’s still a long way to go. Now there are over 40 companies situated and selling (or getting ready to) e-bikes in the US: Advanced Sports Breezer, Aerobic Cruiser, BionX-Magna, Busettii, Cannondale, Conscious Commuter, Currie (Accell Group owns), Ecobike, EB Bike, EG Bikes, Electraped LLC, Electric Wheels, eMoto, E-Road, e-Tour Ebikes, EZ Pedeler, eZee, Focus Bicycles USA, Green Choice Moto, Hanebrink, Hebb Ebikes, HeroEco (Ultra Motor), Hummingbird, 4 § Ve l o p o i n t Q u a r t e r l y Vo l . 1 I s s u e 1 e B i k e S u p p l e m e n t USA