As previously reported sales of an inexpensive form of clean, motorized transportation have skyrocketed in China. Electric bicycles now make up 10 to 20 percent of all two-wheeled vehicles on the roads in many major cities.
“On both sides of a short stretch of Vo Thi Sau Street there are nearly 50 electrical bike shops and they are often full of people checking out the latest models… These shops claim they sell five to seven electric bikes a day, the most popular makes being E-Bike, Viha, E-GO, Bluewing, Robo, Plasma, Emoto and Hitasa.
Domenick Yoney now informs us that diandong zixingche (electric motorbikes) also are all the rage in Vietnam.* And, according to VietNamNet, China and Vietnam make electric motorbikes that sell for close to the same price.
* Note: Many Vietnamese have been riding 50cc “motorbikes” for years. Presently, there is one motorbike for every 6-7 people. Honda, Suzuki, SYM and Yamaha produce motorbikes in Vietnam.
“An electric bike made in Vietnam retails for VND3.7-4.6 million (US$231-287) while a new import from Taiwan-China or a used model from Japan goes for VND5-8 million (US$312-500).” The cost is less than for a similar product recently announced for sale in India and certainly less than the electric bicycle with lithium batteries and regenerative braking that Sanyo is introducing into the Japanese market.
“Typically the parts for these machines are originating in Taiwan and China with assembly taking place in Vietnam.” (Note: The populace of Taiwan represents the greatest concentration of electric bikes and scooters.) Vietnam youth, as yoof are want to do, then customize the electric bikes to make them look more like motorbikes, and refer to them as electric motorbikes.
Thanks to reasonable prices, no registration and no helmet required, students in particular now favor electric motorbikes that are capable of running at the same speed as a 50cc motorbike. Electric bicycles are better for an urban environment due to lower emissions and less noise.
For more discussion about other advantages, refer to the electric bicycle forum.
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And, for those students of economics, just to clarify, the Chinese Yuan no longer is pegged to the American Dollar and due to plummeting dollar Venezuelan oil contracts are signed in euros.
Commenting upon the somewhat different subject of a new emphasis by the European Commission for biofuels that are sustainable, Rafael Seidl opined:
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