Electric Bike Ownership in Germany Hits Record High at 31.4%

Ownership of electric bikes in Germany has set a new record, since almost one out of every three adults now has an e-bike or a pedelec.

A recent survey carried out by the research company Civey and commissioned by the energy firm E.ON shows that 31.4 per cent of adults in Germany now have an e-bike or a pedelec, which is the highest figure yet since E.ON started monitoring electric bike ownership in 2020.

The rise has been steady over the last six years; in 2020 merely 15.2% of the respondents stated that they had an electric bike, this figure increased to 24.7% by 2024, which meant that at that time about one in four Germans had such a bike, and ownership had reached around 28% by 2025 before going up by another 3.4 percentage points in 2026 to reach the current level of 31.4%.

That is to say, the proportion of people in Germany who own e-bikes has more than doubled since 2020.

Younger Riders Are Driving New Growth

A major change is observable in younger adults.

The proportion of Germans between the ages of 18 and 29 who owned an e-bike rose from 19.4% in 2025 to 27.2% in 2026, which represents an increase of 7.8 percentage points over the course of one year.

The figures indicate that electric bikes are no longer mainly linked with older riders who want extra assistance and that younger adults are also making up a larger proportion of Germany's e-bike market.

The way in which people use their bikes is also changing.

The survey showed that 40.4 per cent of e-bike owners use their electric bikes for journeys which they would normally make by car; this indicates that e-bikes have a wider role than simply being used for recreation. For a number of owners, they are now being used as a means of everyday transportation, covering shorter trips as well as regular travel.

Filip Thon, CEO of E.ON, stated that the figures indicate electric bikes have now become a part of everyday life for many people in Germany, especially since an increasing number of riders are using them as an alternative to driving.

Lower Saxony Leads Germany in E-Bike Ownership

Ownership rates also show a great deal of variation between the various federal states in Germany.

Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) is still the leading state, having 39.4 per cent of its residents owning an adults electric bike or a pedelec, while North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen) comes next at 34.1 per cent, Bavaria (Bayern) at 33.7 per cent, and Schleswig-Holstein at 33.2 per cent.

Berlin is at the other end of the list with ownership level of 15.1%, which is less than half the national average.

The fact that the rate of ownership is lower doesn't mean that residents of Berlin are avoiding electric mobility; regional reports point out that people in the capital do make use of rented e-bikes and e-scooters, and that electric bikes can be included as part of a broader range of public transportation and shared mobility options rather than being used as a person's primary mode of transport.

E-Bikes Are Becoming Part of Everyday Transportation

The method in which Germans obtain their bicycles also throws some light on the market. The same survey showed that 81.3% of e-bike owners bought their bikes privately, whereas just under 11% took advantage of employer-supported schemes, such as company bicycle leasing or financial subsidies.

The fact that ownership is continuing to rise and that there is a sharp increase amongst younger riders shows that electric bikes are turning into a more established element of Germany's transportation system rather than remaining a specialized cycling product.

Civey carried out the survey on behalf of E.ON Energie Deutschland from 8th July to 23rd July 2026. The survey covered up to 30,000 adults who were 18 years of age or older throughout Germany, together with a separate survey involving 2,500 owners of pedal e-bikes and pedelecs. E.ON states that the results are representative of the groups that were surveyed.

The German market for electric bikes has achieved another milestone since ownership has passed 31%. The next question isn't any longer just whether electric bikes will become mainstream, but rather how they will fit into daily transportation as take-up continues to increase.