Rising demand for electric scooters in the Russian market
Since the large-scale development of the global electric scooter market, Europe and North America have been the main markets of concern because of the strong cycling culture and large market volume, but there is a market that is rarely mentioned, and that is Russia. Russia is not a major electric travel market, the volume is not as large as Europe and the United States, but the speed of development of the market is by no means inferior to Europe and the United States, even after the epidemic, Russia's electric scooter demand is still rising.
The general environment is sluggish but continues to grow the market into 2023, many manufacturers are looking for a breakthrough in the gradually saturated market, the dividends brought by the external environment gradually disappeared, so manufacturers began to compete fiercely in the market, technology, segmentation and marketing, wanting to get rid of the redundant low-end models, to create a high-end intelligent products. Russia is not the same, alone in a corner of the market years, where only stable and sustained growth is seen. According to the first quarter sales statistics, electric scooter sales in Russia increased by 43 per cent year-on-year to 245,000 units. The majority of the population even sees electric scooters as an economic alternative to taxis, car sharing and private cars. As a result, 85% of vehicles purchased are e-scooters, about 10% are e-bikes, and the rest are two-wheeled balance scooters and single-wheeled vehicles.
Because of the climate, Russia is not suitable for outdoor riding in spring and winter, but in the summer months, when it is suitable for riding, sales rise from month to month, especially in the use of shared electric scooters. The high-latitude climate restricts the time of use of the vehicles, and electric scooters can only be ridden at most in May-October in Russia, so if you buy a private electric scooter, it will undoubtedly be idle for half of the year, which is the reason why the convenience of shared scooters is even more important. The convenience of scooters is even more prominent, and there is no need for users to worry about charging and storage.
According to expert analyses of data on shared electric scooters, the number of their audience has tripled compared to last year, the number of users in the North-West and the Volga region has doubled, in all cities the demand for them has increased 11 times in Tula, 10 times in Kislovodsk, and 9 times in Kazan, and the most active users are in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Ekaterinburg. Shared scooters are used mainly by people aged between 25 and 35, accounting for 47 per cent of all electric scooter users. At the same time, the number of users in the 50+ age group has increased significantly over the past year, up 84 per cent, making them popular with all age groups.
Higher demand for domestic Although the Russian market is now not as large as Europe and North America, it is still not to be ignored, and with most of the vehicles used for cycling in Russia being imported from China, there is a high demand for Chinese e-bikes and bicycles every year. Fuelled by the external environment, sales of electric cars and bicycles exported to Russia via Inner Mongolia rose 49% year-on-year in the first two quarters of 2020. According to the Russian company's data, domestic sales of electric cars and bicycles in Russia in 2021 will be 60 times that of last year. In Russia, sales of electric scooters take up a larger share of the market. In the first nine months of 2021, sales of electric scooters on Russia's Sizzler increased more than sixfold; on Ozon, Russia's largest integrated e-commerce platform, demand for electric scooters quadrupled. And most consumers choose to buy online.
Consumer shopping expenditures as well as preferences change from platform to platform. On Ozon, electric scooters priced at 19,000-20,000 rubles are the most popular, while at Svyaznoy, Russia's leading online electronics retailer, popular demand is in the 40,000-55,000 ruble price range. Chinese brands have also taken a larger share of the market in Russia, with Makhalyuk noting that China's Kugoo is the market leader, but has seen its share drop from 30 per cent to 21.9 per cent as the number of competitors has gradually increased. Another Chinese brand, Hiper, has a 13.9 per cent share, up 3 per cent from last year, while third place goes to Ninebot with 12.6 per cent.
Tightening traffic rules In the first half of 2021, the number of accidents involving electric scooters in Russia rose from 160 to 266, and the number of accidents involving children rose from 21 to 38, with a total of 188 people suffering various degrees of injury. Unexpectedly, however, Russia still maintains a high level of enthusiasm for electric scooters, and the Russian government is allocating 75 million rubles for the development of shared electric scooters.
Still, the government has taken the appropriate measures, and as of 1 March 2023, electric scooters are officially recognised as vehicles in Russia. Officials classify electric scooters, hoverboards, electric unicycles and similar mobility devices as MIMs (personal mobility tools), and in an effort to control the speed of shared scooters, Moscow has implemented a 15km/h speed limit in the city centre. When rented scooters enter the area, they automatically slow down to that speed. Personal motorised vehicles have a maximum permitted speed of 25 km/h and can be driven on the hard shoulder (on roads with a speed limit of 60 km/h) or, if there is no shoulder, on the right side of the road.
The lightweight attributes of electric scooters make them more suitable for urban commuting, not only bypassing congested roads, but also travelling at a lower cost, more and more people in Russia are choosing electric scooters for travelling, and the public also said that travelling by using electric scooters can shorten the commuting time, and also avoid traffic jams, so there has been a substantial increase in the sales of electric scooters in Russia, and the usage rate of shared electric scooters has also greatly increased. Russia is also gradually improving the micro-traffic infrastructure and laws and regulations, I believe that in the future, electric scooters and other means of transport will become an indispensable part of Russia's travel.Gravity has a wide range of electric scooters to choose from!
-Gravity Ebikes
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10th/08/23