Cologne, May 25, 2023. BEM (Bundesverband eMobilität e.V.) presented its eMobility Micromobility Study 2023 at the polisMOBILITY trade fair in Cologne, together with the member companies, the market research company UScale, and the information portal for sustainable mobility, voylt. It examines the attitudes of owners, interested parties and non-owners of light electric vehicles towards micromobility in Germany and provides insight into the social behavior of the buyer groups.

Light electric vehicles (LEVs) are considered the new vehicle alternative to the car and are technical vehicles in the drive for revolution. What the average consumer often associates solely with offers such as e-scooters and pedelecs, and which the regulator divides into several sub-groups, has meanwhile become a growing field of diverse vehicle innovations in micro-mobility. In addition to the vehicles of the Small Electric Vehicles Ordinance (eKFV) up to 20 km/h, they also include two-wheel, three-wheel or four-wheel motor vehicles from 25 km/h, which are intended for driving on public roads and which include both passenger and logistics vehicles. In order to cover the entire spectrum, micro electric vehicles without handlebars that are not registered in Germany were also included in the study.

The main results of the study are:

1. Micromobility is not a big city phenomenon. In rural areas, LEVs are used even more frequently than in the city.
2. All age groups drive light vehicles equally. Older people in particular are discovering these vehicles for themselves in order to remain mobile, for example because of health restrictions.
3. LEVs are currently used by people who tend to be higher earners.
4. The majority of those who have property are well connected to public transport. So LEVs do not compete with local public transport.
5. 53% of owners state that they use the car less, 6% even reported that they have given up their own car.

In the representative survey of 1,110 people in Germany, the attitude of the respondents to micromobility or LEVs was surveyed. In addition, around 800 other owners and interested parties were interviewed for more in-depth analysis of their experiences in the purchasing process and use. The total sample of the study conducted in April 2023 was 1,890 participants.

Since light electric vehicles are significantly smaller and lighter than an average car, they make an important contribution to climate protection and resource conservation. Due to their size advantage, they take up less space in stationary and moving traffic, reduce noise, and consume less CO2 and primary energy over their life cycle.

Further evaluation of the data revealed:

1. Buyers have a great need for information on technical and regulatory issues. They do most of their research online. However, the majority buys from specialist dealers (46%).
2. 20% of owners have had prior experience of sharing LEVs. Half of them state that these experiences encouraged them to buy an LEV.
3. In addition to the price, the range and the technical equipment are the most important factors in the purchase decision.
4. 31% of non-owners are generally interested in a purchase, another 10% at least certify that LEVs have a great future and for another 36% LEVs occasionally make sense. Only 5% of non-haves are opposed to LEVs in principle.
5. The uninterested recognize that LEVs are more than just a fad. However, they would like stricter regulation to make it safer for LEVs to participate in traffic.

Dr. Axel Sprenger, Founder and Managing Director of UScale said (translated from release in German):

“We don’t see a culture war between the vehicles among those surveyed, but rather a search for the optimal, personal use. Since the market is very young and there is a lack of information in many places, people are groping their way forward. We, as market analysts, are finally getting closer to this area, which is so important for the mobility transition, and we are glad that we can now present a major study on this important topic for the first time.”

Johannes Haas, Founder and Managing Director of voylt commented (translated from release in German):

“For us, the results show that the tiresome discussion about shared e-scooters in poorly regulated cities is obscuring the opportunities for micromobility. In reality, the increase in personal comfort through electric light vehicles is confirmed in highly individualized mobility: employees who commute 20 km to their place of work in the neighboring town every day with an e-moped; retirees using an electric tricycle for shopping trips; entrepreneurs who are increasingly using electric vans, or singles who can fit into any parking space in the big city with an electric MicroCar – there are great and convenient ways today to protect the environment in everyday life and still be mobile.”

Christian Heep, Vice-President BEM | Bundesverband eMobilität e.V. shared (translated from release in German):

“Anyone who wants to rethink mobility cannot avoid individualization through the use of micromobility and light electric vehicles. The fact that this area in Germany – in contrast to many of our European neighbors – is not subsidized by the state makes it clear how many options for reducing CO2 emissions are still unused.”

In the Bundesverband eMobilität e.V., the BEM working group 1 deals with this market segment.
The Bundesverband eMobilität (BEM) is an association of companies, institutions, scientists and users from the field of electromobility who are committed to converting mobility in Germany to electromobility based on renewable energies. The tasks of the BEM include the active networking of economic actors for the development of sustainable and intermodal mobility solutions, the improvement of the legal framework for the expansion of e-mobility, and the enforcement of more equal opportunities when converting to low-emission drive concepts. The association was founded in 2009. It organizes 450 member companies with an annual turnover of over 100 billion euros who employ over one million people worldwide. More than 2,000 registered participants work in 19 working groups on the entire range of e-mobility.

UScale advises car manufacturers, utilities and service providers on the customer-oriented design of offers and the development of KPI systems for customer perception. UScale’s work is based on customer insight studies on all aspects of e-mobility and an evaluation process for the acceptance of digital services from the customer’s point of view. UScale is the only provider of a panel specializing in e-mobility, with over 7000 panelists in German-speaking countries.

voylt is a European portal for sustainable e-mobility, which offers interested parties a wide range of information and intuitive purchase advice. The name is a combination of voyage and volt – it stands for an exciting journey into the electric future.