Europe is a pioneer in electric mobility. The continent provides a natural fit for electric two-wheelers. The customers are more environmentally conscious; the cities are two-wheeler-friendly, and a few years back, everyone started doling out licenses to fleet operators to run electric moped renting operations.
The European demand for electric mopeds and electric motorcycles has steadily increased between 2019-2022. Demand received a further boost as COVID-19 recessed.
However, 2023 and 2024 have been two down years in a row, with sales of both electric mopeds and motorcycles declining.
It's not simply an economic downturn - overall, 2W numbers have increased, driven by a growth in ICE motorcycle sales. Motorcycle sales were also driven by Europe's implementation of Euro V emission norms, which resulted in a jump in prices from Jan 1st, 2025. Buyers rushed to buy motorcycles before the norms came into force.
Electric motorcycle penetration, which had crossed 4.5% in 2022, has started declining again. The year 2024 was terrible, with penetration dropping to 2.45%.
The Moped (sub 45 kph) segment is faltering in overall volumes and penetration.
In 2022, electric moped penetration was more than one-third of the market. However, it has steadily declined over the last two years and was less than 28% in 2024.
Takeaways
ICE motorcycles had a temporary boost in sales due to the planned implementation of Euro V from Jan 2025. However, even without that, the short-term trend for electric mobility has turned negative.
A large share of European electric moped sales are to fleet operators and moped rideshare companies. The temporary cyclic nature of buying in these businesses also caused a short-term negative impact.
