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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

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