Nanning, located in Southern China and home to more than 8.5 million people, is often known as the country’s “Green City” because of its lush parks, treescapes, and warm climate. The city is also earning a reputation now as a capital for e-bikes and electric two-wheelers, with a reported per capita ownership of one e-bike for every 1.5 residents. It has also become one of the friendliest cities for cyclists with expanded infrastructure, facilities, and programming.
It is important to note that China’s e-bikes commonly feature a throttle, allowing motors to provide power without riders needing to pedal. Therefore, these fleets of e-bikes are more like scooters or light mopeds, rather than traditional electric-assist pedal bikes, but are still required by national regulations to only have a maximum speed of 25 km/h along with other maximums for weight, engine power, and battery voltage. These e-bikes represent a major mode of micromobility for millions of Chinese.
The post How This Chinese City Is Improving Governance of E-Bikes and Two-Wheelers first appeared on Institute for Transportation and Development Policy.
