E‑scooters are no longer just rental items in cities; they are increasingly being purchased. According to the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), 1.4 million e‑scooters were present in private households in 2023, which represents 2.9 % of the more than 40.8 million households in Germany. All of these scooters are electric‑powered and do not require a licence to operate.
Electric‑assist bicycles (E‑bikes), which are also called Pedelecs and likewise do not need a licence, have a much larger share of the two‑wheel market. In 2023 the number of licence‑free E‑bikes in private homes reached 12.2 million-almost nine times the number of e‑scooters. In 20.6 % of households (one in five) there was at least one E‑bike. The proportion of households with E‑bikes has roughly tripled over the last five years: in 2018 there were only 3.8 million E‑bikes, equating to 7.0 % of households. Data for 2018 e‑scooter ownership were not yet available; e‑scooters have been permitted on the road since 2019.
Across all households, 2023 saw a total of 74.9 million bicycles-whether electric or not-amounting to 78.4 % of all households. About one in every six bicycles owned was a licence‑free E‑bike.