The development history of electric bicycles in China is generally recognized as three stages in the industry: the initial stage of electric bicycles, the initial stage of large-scale production, and the stage of rapid development.
The initial stage of electric bicycles is also known as the early experimental production stage of electric bicycles, from 1995 to 1999. This stage mainly involves exploring and researching the key technologies of the four major components of electric bicycles, including motors, batteries, chargers, and controllers. In terms of research and development and production, the main approach is to spontaneously gather information, track technology, organize market observation, and launch small batches of market trials by production enterprises, which has also made electric bicycles enter the sight of consumers and gradually recognized and accepted by them. From a technical perspective, early electric bicycles could only travel about 30 kilometers on a single charge with new batteries, with short battery life, poor climbing ability, and easy wear and tear. Moreover, the motors were all brushless and toothless. But the accumulation during this period laid the foundation for the current scale of industrialization in terms of talent, technology, and product research and development.
The reason why the second stage is called the initial stage of large-scale production is because there were several opportunities to promote electric bicycles during this period, which made the struggling electric bicycles in the initial stage usher in spring, and the development of the industry entered scale. The most valuable of these opportunities are the "anti motorcycle laws" in various cities and the "SARS" in 2003
This period is generally recognized as the period from 2000 to 2004. During this period, with breakthroughs in key technologies and continuous improvement in the performance of electric bicycles, electric bicycles have become a substitute for motorcycles and bicycles. Its speed, environmental protection, convenience, and affordability have also stimulated the market's demand for electric bicycles. In the increasingly growing market demand, companies that previously developed and produced have rapidly risen, and some new companies have also begun to enter. Their investment in electric bicycles has also been increasing, leading to rapid expansion of production capacity (see Annex 1.1 for details). Moreover, the companies that have rapidly risen during this period are all operating with big hands, leaving behind the older generation of R&D and production enterprises. However, some large-scale enterprises represented by well-known brands have already formed, and according to the north-south differences, three major industrial clusters in the industry, represented by Jiangsu Wuxi, Zhejiang, and Tianjin, have also been formed.
