Energy

If you want to get anywhere fast in any developing country in the world, the best way is by motorbike. While most European and North American countries have relatively good-quality road networks that cover most if not all their regions, the same cannot be said of countries in Asia and elsewhere.

Even inside a typical Asian city, the traffic congestion is so bad that you can expect to be sitting in a four-wheeler for several hours to make a few km from one side of an urban sprawl to another. And outside these built-up areas, in rural settings, you’re highly unlikely to be complete your journey unless you’re on two wheels because either roads simply don’t exist or they’ve fallen into serious disrepair.

For these reasons and more, motorcycles are a massively popular mode of transport in Asia. In fact, when it comes to the number of electric motorcycles and scooters worldwide, the vast majority – 90 percent – are in the Asia Pacific region alone, according to Global Market Insights, which values the market now at $30 billion in total across the lithium-ion and sealed lead acid battery types. Annual growth is forecast at more than 5 percent. [Read more…] about Electric Future: Two wheels good, four wheels not so much