At the end of last year, the "Safety Technical Specification for Electric Bicycles" (GB 17761-2024) was officially released and will be implemented on September 1, 2025, while old national standard products are allowed to be sold until November 30, 2025.
This round of "replacing old with new" electric two wheelers has brought a lot of pressure to electric two wheeler companies to clear inventory. However, industry insiders believe that with the implementation of the new national standard, the industry will further differentiate and is expected to stimulate demand growth again.
Among them, "intelligence" has almost become a "clear card" in everyone's hands. In the context of industrial upgrading, the "smart driving" competition of two wheelers is sweeping at a speed that exceeds everyone's expectations.
Two wheelers upgrade to the 'smart driving war'
In fact, this is not the first time that the electric two wheeler industry has experienced policy shocks. In 2019, the "Safety Technical Specification for Electric Bicycles" (GB 17761-2018) was officially implemented, which clearly defined the definition of electric two wheelers.
The implementation of this new national standard has led to the elimination of a large number of old standard electric two wheelers that do not meet the standards. Driven by the huge demand for vehicle replacement from consumers, the two wheeler electric vehicle industry has also experienced explosive growth.
However, with the basic satisfaction of consumers' demand for car replacement, the demand for car purchases generated by the epidemic, flexible employment, and other factors has also reached a stage saturation, and the growth of the electric two wheeler market has begun to be sluggish. In 2024, the total sales of two wheeled electric vehicles in China were approximately 49.5 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 11.6%.
At the crossroads of peak demand, two wheeler companies are actively seeking key variables to break through from aspects such as price, quality, and functionality. Among them, "intelligence" has evolved from a "conceptual gimmick" to an industry arms race.
At the South China International Electric Vehicle Exhibition, Tailing showcased an electric vehicle equipped with autonomous driving technology that can handle complex road conditions and complete automatic parking operations. In March, Taiwan Bell also released the industry's first intelligent driving model, which will be standard across all models starting from January this year.
One of the former founders of Xiaopeng, He Tao, also founded a new brand OMOWAY focusing on intelligent electric motorcycles last year. Recently, he released the OMO X, a prototype vehicle equipped with a full stack self-developed intelligent electric motorcycle, which can achieve balance function during low-speed congestion and is equipped with ACC adaptive cruise control, one key parking and other functions.
In January of this year, Ninebot released a series of innovative intelligent features such as Ninebot SIGHT (Ninebot AI Visual Assistance System) and Ninebot OS. In addition, the 9th also released the unmanned electric bicycle "Little T" in March.
It is not difficult to see that the competition for electric two wheelers has gradually shifted from basic performance indicators such as speed and range to higher-level intelligent tracks, and not only has "intelligence", but also "strong intelligence".
