Small but Perfectly Formed
Welcome to the small but perfectly formed world of Microbility.
What is Mircrobility? The term actually refers to a range of small, lightweight vehicles which typically operate at speeds below 15.5 mph and are driven by users personally. Perhaps we should say ridden as the Microbility ‘devices’ we are most likely to see as we go about our daily business are e-bikes and electric scooters.
Small in size these modes of transport may be, but their usage is increasing exponentially, especially e-bikes and more recently electric scooters. E-bikes though is really where it is at, with sales rising by an estimated 70% year-on-year.
Once frowned upon by the hard-core cycling community e-bikes are now mainstream with all the major cycle manufacturers producing electric variations, from folding bikes, road bikes, mountain bikes to high-tech city bikes and cargo e-bikes. The sector is also attracting in major players not previously known for bicycle manufacture, with Yamaha set to produce three e-bikes as it turns its attention to urban mobility.
Increasing sales, rapidly improving technology and a multitude of different leisure and business uses all have implications for the insurance sector going forward. It is an area that Jackson Lee are keenly interested in and as such we have set up a dedicated team to monitor developments and to help build insurance solutions to meet market requirements.