When you’ve set out with a big audacious goal like reducing the number of short car trips in Australia by 50%, you need to stay ahead of the curve. So, earlier this month, our Cofounder Daniel, GM Jacob and Tern Australia Brand Manager Jordan quick hauled it to Frankfurt to see and hear about the hottest eBike trends at Eurobike, Europe’s largest bike conference. Here’s what they reported back!
Gearing up the cycling revolution with government subsidies
Micromobility, like any great societal shift, takes early adopters, private businesses and also a lot of government support. Germany, France and Austria are making some serious headway through their government subsidy programs, which are available at the national, state and local levels.
In France in 2023, governments provided $10.9m in subsidies across 12,500 eBike purchases. Meanwhile, in Stuttgart, Germany, 1200 families or single parents received subsidies of up to 600 Euro to purchase a bike (approx 15% of the cost of a new Tern HSD) and received another 500 Euro bonus after 3 years if they were still using an eBike to replace their car travel. Common findings across the Central European schemes were that incentives should be simple, long-term, applicable to multiple modes, and should include lease or subscription options.
Lug+Carrie works with public and private partners to run behaviour change programs. Identifying a specific community, such as a primary school or a business park, we then offer free or subsidised eBike trials for 4-8 weeks with the aim of getting more people to trial life by bike. Find out more here and, if you’re interested in getting more people in your business or community on bikes, get in touch!
The hottest eBike trends from Eurobike
- Orox wins gold! From 300 submissions, the Tern Orox was one of only 11 eBike innovations that took home gold in the Eurobike awards. The jury of bike experts loved the Orox for its versatility, robustness and practical benefits, as well as its well thought out details and perfect handling. We’ve got the Orox on deck in our stores to test ride and you can pre-order now with a 10% deposit.
- The GSD and HSD are still best in class. Although we were wowed with a lot of new products, Eurobike was a good reminder that the Tern GSD is still best in class for long tail cargo eBikes and the Tern HSD is still the best option for people needing to carry a single kiddo of any age.
- Pinion MGU (Motor, Gearbox) eDrive systems. One of the products getting most attention at Eurobike was the Pinion motor gearbox unit. Pinion has been making mid-mounted internal gearboxes for quite a few years but now they’ve added electric drive motors into a single unit. It’s really exciting to look ahead to a future where eBikes might be fitted with motors and drivetrains that are seamless to shift (or do it for you!), that last longer, that require less maintenance and should even weigh less. For now, there’s peace of mind having Lug+Carrie teach you those skills and take care of the maintenance and reliability for you!
- ABUS urban cycle helmets. As well as bike security systems, ABUS also design helmets. They won an award at Eurobike for their latest release – the Hyp-E for urban cyclists. This helmet with built-in turning and breaking signals will be available in 2025.
- Yakima car bike hitches. A product we’ve been keeping an eye out for has been a car hitch rack that’s designed to carry bikes as sturdy as our Tern GSD. Yakima have come to the party with their new OnRamp LX which has the carrying capacity (up to 36kg per bike), width (fits tyres up to 4.5” wide) and length (accommodates a wheelbase up to 136cm) to carry both your Tern GSDs. Or maybe your GSD and your new Tern Orox?
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