The number of companies that we index in our Micromobility Landscape continues to grow and is now approaching 1500 companies. The largest growth is being driven by companies that sell vehicles as well as those that develop software that supports the broader ecosystem. 

The ebike continues to dominate.

The top-selling EV in the US isn’t a car. Electric bikes are currently outselling electric cars by 18% in the United States.

• Ebike subsidies could put ebike adoption on a whole new level. Denver allocated $300-400k to fund the first year of its ebike rebate and ended up burning through $4.1M in 6 months.  
• Subscription is also beginning to look more attractive (Swapfiets, Dance, Zoomo, etc). BCG estimates subscription micromobility will grow at 30%+ CAGR over the next decade. 
• We continue to catalogue ebikes at Ride Review along with building guides around use cases like cargo, mountain, folding, portability, and fat tire.

The rise of other modes

Golf carts aren’t for golfing (the rise of the NEV): Surveys show more than 30% of global commuters—and over a quarter of Americans—would consider using an NEV-like to replace car trips. Here is a NEV 101 guide along with some examples of the different designs from pickup to motor style.

Electrifying all micro vehicles (dirt bike, motorcycle, skateboards, etc). As our Ride Review catalog shows, all micro vehicles are going to go electric, regardless of whether it is the incumbents or the new kids on the block who drive the transformation. 

Shared was stabbed in the back by their best friend. 

Governments around the world turned on shared companies, even when it was done in opposition to what people wanted (including Paris just this week!). The concern for politicians is primarily around micro companies being the “next Uber”, or the clutter or the safety of the….. The result was more regulation and rakes that bankrupted many of them. But ultimately shared is a weed, all it needs is a crack and it will grow. Politicians need to put down the weedkiller if they can finally practice what they preach. For shared companies we have discussed the need to take a more traditional selling approach to governments to lock in longer term contracts and staying out of the whims of political turnover.

Look outside the US and Europe for innovation and breakout companies. (Like Swing in South Korea, and Marti, BinBin, and Hop in Turkey).

Look ahead: More Spoke, Less Smoke

The last decade of low interest rates and a focus on growth over profitability is over. While you might think that means an end to innovation in mobility, micromobility companies have been focused on profitability for a long time. While Trevor Milton of Nikola is guilty on fraud charges and SPACs like Embark, Canoo, Faraday, Lucid, etc can’t ship a mobility product. Sondors will go public and is profitable in a US market that has projected growth of 22.6% CAGR for the next decade.

Micro needs the subsidies that other mobility options demand

• More ebike subsidies are needed: Austin (passed); Oregon, California and NY are considering their own
• Govs have to practice what they preach around more efficient mobility options (more subsidies, more infrastructure, less regulation on micro/more regulation on cars/parking) 

Macro trends that favor micro adoption 

• Watching the “end of globalization” trend and what that means for mobility. It will be easier to onshore/nearshore micro vehicles than car manufacturing.
• Easier to autonomously drive a bike than a car. 
• The car market has over $1.4 trillion in debt building around it. What happens when this cracks with rising rates and a slowing economy? 

What is next for Micromobility Industries? 

We will continue to support the community the best way we can. That means the largest events around the world, both digitally (January) and in person in Europe (June) and America (September). We will also be working to get as many butts in the seats of your vehicles as possible. Look out for our first expo shows, which will also bring together all small vehicles in one place for consumers and businesses to try. We will also be keeping our digital products up to date, that will be thousands of reviews on Ride Review, thousands of votes for the Rider’s Choice Awards and adding hundreds of companies in The Micromobility Landscape. 

Thank you for all the support and Ride On!