Skip to Content

Could explosive growth in Chinese electric bikes be driving up lead prices?

by Lascelles Linton (RSS feed) on Oct 18th 2007 at 2:14PM

Chinese bikesThe price of lead hit a record high on October 9 and Chinese electric bikes may have played a silent role in driving up the price. China produced 19 million battery-driven bikes in 2006 and that could rise 30 percent this year. There are estimates of up to 300 electric bike companies in China and 400,000 tons of lead used in Chinese "e" bikes last year.

"The explosive growth is already over, and we expect new standards being developed for the larger bikes to slow growth in 2008," said Zhang Changhai, lead analyst with metals consultancy Antaike in Beijing. Wow, China is actually making laws trying to stop the growth of electric bikes. China is developing in more interesting and greener ways than I have seen reported. Check below the fold for a video of an American student in China studying the growth in electric bikes.

Related:
[Source: Scientific American and tipster Domenick]

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels

Tags: China, electric bikes, ElectricBikes, lead

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.


Featured Galleries

  • 2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom
  • Smart ED production
  • Tesla Roadster audio recording for video games
  • Production i-MiEVs in the UK
  • Hyundai 2.4L direct injected Theta II
  • Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid bus
  • Chevy Volt hits the streets in Royal Oak
  • 2010 Nissan LEAF
  • 2010 Mercedes-Benz ML450 hybrid
  • Renault Fluence ZE concept
  • Governor Schwarzenegger with the Zero S
  • Peugeot Concept HYbrid3 Evolution

Categories

Autoblog

Daily Finance

Download Squad

Engadget

Joystiq

Autoblog Spanish

Switched.com

FanHouse

Asylum