E‑scooters are no longer limited to city rentals; they are increasingly purchased. According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Tuesday, 1.4 million electric scooters were recorded in private households in 2023, meaning 2.9 percent of Germany’s more than 40.8 million households owned at least one licence‑free scooter.
Electric bicycles-commonly called pedelecs-play an even bigger part in two‑wheel e‑mobility. In 2023, 12.2 million electric bicycles were owned by private households, almost nine times the scooter figure. One in five households (20.6 percent) owned at least one of these licence‑required‑free bikes, which provide electric pedal assistance without needing a driving licence.
Over a five‑year period, the household supply of such e‑bikes has roughly tripled. In 2018 there were only 3.8 million e‑bikes, representing 7.0 percent of all households. Data on e‑scooter ownership for 2018 were not yet available from official statistics; scooters have been permitted on public roads since 2019.
Altogether, private households had 74.9 million bicycles in 2023, whether or not they were electric. These bikes were spread across 78.4 percent of all households, and roughly one in six of them was a licence‑free electric bicycle.