A robust refurbished e-bike market could be the secret weapon we need to get more Americans riding — and it would also help stretch rebate dollars and steer buyers away from illegal e-motos that are giving the mode a bad name, new report suggests.
A nationwide survey recently found a staggering 43 percent of U.S. adults already own an e-bike, and of those that don't, 52 percent are either considering or actively planning to buy one.
A staggering 58 of those would-be owners say cost is a barrier to pulling the trigger on a pedal-assist vehicle, outstripping systemic concerns like fear of traffic violence (41 percent). Buying a used e-bike, though, made buyers nervous too, particularly about whether their new rides would be reliable (34 percent) or in good condition (32 percent.)
That's why researcher Calvin Thigpen reached out to the refurbished e-bike retailer Upway to analyze whether its business model could unlock latent demand — and potentially, reduce the number of low-quality e-bikes on American roads.
"They help you feel confident that when you get on that bike, it's actually been maintained and is ready to be on the roads," said Thigpen, who serves as New Mobility Practice Lead at Toole, though he wrote this report as an independent researcher. "You don't know when the last time Joe Schmo on Craigslist last [maintained] the bike — if at all."
Founded in France in 2021, Upway markets itself as the "Carvana of e-bikes" that serves as trusted alternative to peer-to-peer services like Facebook Marketplace, where the vast majority of used e-bikes are bought and sold today.
Unlike the aforementioned Mr. Schmo, the company puts bikes through a rigorous 50-point inspection before reselling them, restoring any electrical or mechanical parts that are broken and offering each customer a one-year warranty if anything goes wrong, on top of 14-day "test ride" policy to make sure whether an e-bike she bought on the internet is really a fit. Needless to say, they also aren't replete with scammers or thieves like more informal online buying platforms.
Of Thigpen's survey respondents, though, less than 8 percent had even heard of Upway, which currently has no major competitors in the U.S. — and that means many of them won't even bother shopping for a e-bike that they assume they can't afford. The average new e-bike retails at around $2,600, with car-replacing cargo bikes often going for much more than that, and prices on the rise due to tariffs and inflation.
That's particularly challenging for a rider in a car-dependent landscape who could replace many of their short to mid-length trips with a e-bike, but still has to maintain the expense of a car for longer journeys.
"When we're framing e-bike purchases as a substitute car purchase, the cost is not high; you've saved yourself tens of thousands of dollars, and that's a very affordable way to get around town," he added. "But if it's another bike in your arsenal, then yeah, it is expensive."
Of course, about 120 North American communities have tried to bring down the cost of an e-bike in another way: with taxpayer-funded rebate programs.
As a policy researcher, though, Thigpen's interest in Upway stems largely from its ability to complement those programs — or even replace them when the political will to subsidize the mode just isn't there. He points out that most rebate programs don't allow recipients to buy used e-bikes with government money, and when they do, they typically only grant subsidies of around $200 to $600 off a new bike that costs $2,600 on average — compared to Upway's price, which works out to around $1,130.
Moreover, e-bike rebate programs are often heavily means-tested to the poorest potential riders, or require customers to buy from local bike shops to support local economies, which Thigpen calls an "everything bagel" approach to transportation policy. And while he supports both those ideas, he hopes policymakers will relax standards to allow used e-bikes to qualify for credits, and ideally, work with local bike shops to bring certified refurbished bikes into their inventory for resale.
"The money now is going is towards those low-income individuals, which is fantastic — that's as it should be. But it also potentially leaves out a more moderate income family who don't qualify, but they might still lack that purchasing power to get like a high-quality e-bike ... If we could start to combine [rebates and used sales] then maybe we'd be able to stretch those rebate investments further."
Moreover, using companies like Upway could help rebate administrators and everyday consumers avoid buying vehicles that look like e-bikes, but are actually e-motos that go faster than the 20 miles per hour that is legally allowed on most community bike lanes, or 28 miles per hour on shared streets. Upway doesn't sell bikes that go faster than that, and it also doesn't sell models with non-standard batteries that are known to explode and cause fires.
Of course, Thigpen doesn't think companies like Upway alone can get Americans on e-bikes, and he encourages transportation leaders to embrace a wide menu of ideas to drive adoption, including state-supported long-term e-bike rental programs and good old-fashioned bicycle commuter benefits. Still, considering how many U.S. residents are ready to ride, Thigpen hopes that they can gain some name recognition — and that American streets can gain a lot of new cyclists.
"People are really eager to find ways to get out of their cars and get out on two wheels," he adds. "And what's exciting about these professionalized marketplaces is that they address that affordability and that reliability challenge."
