In 2020, there were about 2.9 million pedelecs in the Netherlands [6]. This is over 12% of the total number of bicycles (23.1 million in 2020). Since 2013, pedelecs have started making headway. In 2020, over a quarter of the total number of bicycle kilometres were cycled on pedelecs [7]. Further analysis of bicycle use in the Netherlands by the Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis (KiM) [7] shows that, many cyclists aged 65 and over use pedelecs; in 2019, more than half their bicycle kilometres were cycled on pedelecs. On average, pedelec riders cover longer distances than conventional cyclists. The share of pedelec kilometres cycled is not only growing among the over 65s, but also among cyclists aged 12-50. Pedelecs are increasingly used for commuting as well.
In the Netherlands, regular pedelecs far outnumber speed pedelecs. In October 2021, there were over 26,000 registered speed pedelecs [8]. Yet, their popularity is growing steadily. The annual sales figures of new speed pedelecs increased from 171 in 2013, to 4,701 in 2020 [9]. In only three years, the number of registered speed pedelecs doubled from over 10,000 in 2017, to 21,100 in 2020 (1 July) [10]. This is still only a fraction of the almost 3 million pedelecs in the Netherlands.
RDW (the Netherlands Vehicle Authority) figures from 2017 show that owners of speed pedelecs are mostly male (80%). On 1 July 2020, private owners of speed pedelecs were aged 51.5 on average. Two thirds of the private owners were aged 45-65. In other age categories, speed pedelecs are less popular. Almost 18 % of the private owners were aged 35-45, almost 8 % were aged 65-75 and less than 7 % of the private owners were aged 16 to 35 [10].
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