Market / E-Performance: The bicycle is celebrating its 200th birthday this year. Two centuries in which a lot has changed, but in which the two-wheeler has also changed a lot. E-bike pioneer Bosch looks back on the development of the world's most popular means of transport, but also looks to the future. The e-bike will undoubtedly add one or two chapters to the further history of the bicycle.
In June 1817, Karl Drais did the first laps on his self-designed running machine in Mannheim. Did Drais know at the time the profound, literally earth-shattering significance his invention would have? Hardly likely. The rise was rapid: as early as the 19th century, the bicycle became the ultimate means of transport. Especially for the 'little' people who couldn't afford a carriage or their own horse. But across all social classes, people appreciated above all the independence of this new form of transportation. At the end of the 19th century, Robert Bosch, the founder of Bosch, was already using his bicycle to visit his customers in the Stuttgart area. The southern German group was not directly involved in the final rise to the modern bicycle - although a dynamo light was produced from the 20s to the 60s, which was sold and installed more than 20 million times.
200 years have passed since Karl Drais and his running machine. With more than a billion bicycles worldwide, the bicycle is the most popular means of transport, far ahead of cars and trains and could herald a new age of mobility. In times of smog, particulate matter alarms, overcrowded streets and a broad awareness of sustainability, the bicycle could become the model for a modern, contemporary way of getting around. The driving force behind this development is undoubtedly the e-drive and e-bikes. Surprisingly, the first patents for this were already in place around 1900, but it was only with the rapid development of rechargeable batteries from the beginning of the 90s that e-bikes became practical and socially acceptable. Bosch is one of the leading companies in the rise of the e-bike and has become the market leader in just a few years since entering the market in 20.
Today, of the 81 million bicycles in Germany, 3 million are already electric – and the trend is rising sharply. Claus Fleischer, CEO of Bosch eBike Systems, is well aware that this development is not automatic and calls on all stakeholders to take responsibility: “For us to continue the success story of the bicycle, even more people need to switch to cycling, states and municipalities need to further improve cycling infrastructure, and businesses and industries need to continuously bring sophisticated and technically advanced products to market. We are developing the mobility of tomorrow today.”
To 200 more years!