E-scooter, motorcycle sales will dwarf plug-in cars' by end of decade

Plug-in cars may be a lot larger than electric scooters and e-motorcycles, but when it comes to numbers sold, two-wheelers will outnumber four-wheelers by a huge margin by the decade's end, Pike Research says. It's a global trend that will be led by big organizations.

Demand from fleet operators like delivery companies, police departments and security departments will push annual e-scooter and e-motorcycle sales to about 18.6 million units by 2018, according to the Pike Research report. About four out of five e-two-wheelers in the world are being sold in China. E-bikes are attractive as fleet vehicles because their lighter weight allows for a longer single-charge range than many cars as well as performance specs that are similar to their fueled counterparts.

In a separate report last week, Pike said that global plug-in vehicle sales will total about 3.8 million units a year by 2020. About 50,000 plug-ins were sold in the US last year.