The Full Story
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The Electrify the Mountains Project is a collaboration between the city of Kimberley, Sustainable Kimberley and the Kimberley Trails Society. Funded by the tourism Dependent Communities fund created by the Government of BC
Why Kimberley?
Kimberley is located along the now famous Powder Highway, a ski destination that grows in stature each year. Less known is that the region is also one of the founding homes of mountain biking in Canada. It is fast becoming a 'must ride' on every mountain biker’s destination list.
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Nestled in the Purcell Mountains, Kimberley is naturally hilly. A small community with a massive love for biking and hiking, Kimberley and its surrounding area offers hundreds of kilometers of trails. We are an early adopter in e-biking for adventure, commuting, health benefits, community connections and general transportation.
Kimberley’s location in the East Kootenay region coupled with our extensive biking and hiking infrastructure makes us the perfect place to adapt, grow and connect adjacent trail infrastructures. In doing so, we are creating a truly iconic experience that will attract visitors from all over the world.
Green Tourism Innovation
With devastating wildfires, increased impact and frequency of storms, and the ever growing issue of vehicle emissions across BC, Kimberley, is not standing still. This community has been a leader in a not too distant petrol free future, as it already has one of the largest community built Solar Power installations in Canada. Kimberley is doing its part to lead the way in developing the world's first e-powered adventure experience with an ever increasing array of electric vehicle charging stations and ebike charging.
ACCESSIBLE
FOR ALL
Developing industry leading eBike trails in concert with Kootenay Adaptive Sport Association (KASA) to provide accessible trails for e-adaptive mountain biking and creating an e-adaptive riding hub.
EBIKE GROWTH AND STATISTICS
The e-bike market is growing rapidly, with Europe leading the way in production, sales and consumer use. The Confederation of European Bicycle Industry (CONEBI) report released in July 2020, reported that production of pedal assist e-bikes in Europe is growing at a fast pace, increasing from 2018 to 2019 in units to almost 60%. CONEBI reports pedal assist e-bikes sold grew by 23% from 2018 to 2019, surpassing the mark of 3 million units sold annually for the first time and representing 17% of the total bicycle sales. CONEBI expects this positive trend to continue over the next years, predicting e-bikes sales up to more than 6.5 million units in 2025.
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In July 2020, Shimano Europe published the “State of the Nation Report – Examining the Attitudes Towards e-bike Usage in 11 European Countries”. This survey reports that “Almost one in four Europeans either already owns an e-bike or is likely to buy one this year.”
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In the US, Bicycle Retailer interviewed e-bike trend analyst Ed Benjamin from eCycleElectic and asked about imports into the US over the past two years. eCycleElectric reported that in 2019, 287,000 units were shipped into the United States, and in 2020 the shipments are expected to reach 400,000 units.
