Tracing the demographics of e-bike owners in the US
The coronavirus pandemic at some point changed the urban transport landscape with many abandoning public transportations and switching to e-bikes. According to the Light Electric Vehicle Association, e-bikes are the best-selling electric vehicles in the US market – surpassing electric cars. In this article we examine the profile of e-bike owners in the American market, and track the vehicle’s usage, to help brands target their campaigns more efficiently.
According to YouGov Profiles, an audience intelligence tool, 16% of Americans have used a bicycle while 7% have used a motorcycle in the last 12 months. However, 7% ride an e-bike at least once a month.
59% of Americans who own an e-bike are male while 41% are female but monthly riders are even more likely men (10% of US men and 4% of US women ride monthly). A plurality of those are between the ages of 18 to 44 (86%). In comparison to motorcycle owners, 67% are males and 33% are females. Three out of five of them are between the age of 18 to 44 (63%).
When it comes to e-bike usage, three quarters (74%) of owners use theirs at least once a week, however regularity of usage seems to have slidden slightly year on year.
YouGov Profiles also lets us dig further into the purchasing and attitudes of e-bike owners. For example, e-bike owners are more likely than the average American to buy clothing from Hanes, Levi's, Stussy, and Victoria's Secret. A quarter of them own Samsung phones while 18% have Apple. A fifth say their favorite soccer athlete is Christiano Ronaldo (21%) while a quarter of e-bike owners spend at least an hour a week on TikTok (24%). About two in five say they regularly swim for fitness (38%).
They are also slightly higher income earners with 30% living in households earning over $100k annually versus 17% of non-owners. They are also far more urban, with three in five e-bike owners (62%) living in a city versus only 33% of non-owners.
E-bike owners are more likely to say advertisements help them choose what they buy than the US general population (71% vs 41%). They are also more than twice as likely to trust products recommended by celebrities and influencers (56% vs 22%), twice as willing to pay more for luxury products (67% vs 30%), and like visiting cinemas in their free time (47% vs 31%). This all points to an audience for e-bikes that makes them very different from your average American.
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Methodology
YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data for the US is nationally representative of the online population and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.