Exclusive electric bicycle parts for European market on display at Stand EE-3
London – August 19th, 2009 – SANYO Sales & Marketing Europe GmbH (hereafter SANYO) is pleased to announce that it will be participating at this year’s Eurobike, to be held from September 2nd to 5th at the Neue Messe in Friedrichshafen, Germany. This move is designed to shape SANYO’s entrance into the European electric bicycle market, where SANYO plans to begin supplying these key parts for electric bicycles in Europe from 2010. Its range of parts, to include motors, controllers and batteries, are on show in the Extra Energy Test Area at Stand EE-3 and engineers from SANYO’s Factory in Japan will be available to demonstrate the technology and field questions from companies interested in adopting the technology.
Also at Stand EE-3, SANYO will have samples of their own electric bicycle for visitors to test ride and experience the technology first hand. Named the ‘eneloop bike’, these are based on the recharge and reuse concept taken from the battery with the same name. Test drivers of the ‘eneloop bike’ will experience the new “loop charge function” which both generates electricity and charges the battery while in use. This function controls the level of necessary power or braking, depending on the incline of the road. Featuring a two-wheel drive system in which the rear wheel is driven by human pedaling power and the front tire is supplemented by motorized power using a 2:1 ratio (in low speed areas of less than 10km/h), the electric hybrid bicycle is designed to offer the rider a safer, more stable ride.
Always keen to go a step further, SANYO even has a Park and Charge Station on display. Powered with SANYO Solar panels and Lithium-ion batteries, the use of clean energy as the energy source for charging, means that the dependency on CO² emitting fossil fuels is reduced to zero. The Solar powered Park and Charge station is on display at the ‘Japan Bicycle Promotion Institute’ which can be found at B2-204.
Overview:
Power-assisted bicycle sales in the European Union market in 2008 reached about 300,000 units, and is forecast to reach 400,000 in 2009*. The popularity of the power-assisted bicycle is thought to be a result of an increasing environmental awareness among European consumers, and fitness considerations such as using cycling as a way to combat metabolic syndrome. There is also a desire to reduce the use of motorbikes and automobiles due to uncertainty over the economy and the rapid rise in gasoline prices, causing a move away from fossil fuels. Given these trends, an increasing number of consumers are switching from conventional to power-assisted bicycles, which are convenient for pedaling uphill and carrying heavy parcels. This has also led to an increase in the range of models on the market, catering to wider variety of tastes.
Now SANYO is announcing its entrance into the European market by confirming that it will begin supplying key parts for electric bicycles in from 2010. This demonstrates the company’s intention to further expand a market that is expected to grow steadily in the future.
*Source: Bike Europe Online