San Diego Electric Bike Expo Makes a Splash!
Mar 07, 2016
1 Comments
Share
The San Diego Electric Bike Expo made a big eBike splash in Southern California!
Over 2,200 people attended the Expo on Feb. 26-28 and test track was very busy from start to finish. Before the track opened there was a line up of people, like the start of a race!
There was great media coverage before, during, and after the event. The TV coverage included: CW 6 News, Fox 5 Morning News, KFMB CBS8, KUSI News, ABC 10 News.
On Friday morning before the Expo opened we were invited to do a segment on the Fox 5 Morning News.
ABC 10 stopped by:
And CBS 8:
The San Diego Union Tribune covered the Expo with multiple articles, Bicycle Retailer was there to cover the bike industry side, the San Diego Business Journal covered the Expo and the eBike industry in SD, and we anticipate more coverage from some larger national media…….stay tuned for more on that!
Many people came from the San Diego and Los Angeles area but there were also a considerable number of people from out of state: Missouri, Ohio, New Hampshire, New York, and others.
Attendees had the chance to ride over 125 different electric bikes from A2B, BESV, BULLS, Easy Motion, Felt Electric, Focus, Gazelle, Haibike, IZIP, Kalkhoff, Polaris, Raleigh, Stromer, Tempo, Trek, Xtracycle, Yuba.
Bosch presented their mid drive systems on a variety of e-bikes and that included their new CX system that is focused on the e-mountain bike.
Here’s a look at the track and exhibitor tent area. The hill ramp is on the left.
Riders were lined up before the track was officially open for riding!
Many different types of eBikes were on the track ranging from commuters, beach cruisers, touring, mountain, road, cargo, folding, and fat eBikes!
Ross & son from @xtracycle having fun at the #SanDiego Electric Bike Expo! Come on down to Liberty Station this weekend and ride the latest #ebikes for free! A video posted by Electric Bike Expo (@electricbikeexpo) on
The hill ramp was a very popular attraction as the riders were able to test the climbing capabilities of each eBike.
The electric cargo bikes were popular among the families. This is the Xtracycle 8E with the Bosch mid drive system. 
Yuba had a custom Spicy Curry electric cargo bike set up with free coffee! There were a number of the electric bike giveaways during the weekend to 3 lucky winners! These eBike giveaways are happening at all of the Expos. Houston is up next! 
Tempo Bicycles held a charity raffle with the lucky winner (Amanda) taking home the Tempo Santa Barbara hybrid electric bike worth $4,000! The 2 charities were the SEAL Naval Special Warfare Family Foundation and the San Diego County Bike Coalition. The raffle tickets were $5 each and over 900 tickets were sold! 
Easy Motion gave away one of their EVO Jet 350W e-bikes (worth $2,800) to one lucky person who rode their e-bikes during the Expo. Veronica was the lucky winner in San Diego and she looks excited! 
Michael A. (center of the picture) was the lucky winner of the Stromer ST1 LTD electric bike worth $5,000! You can enter to win a ST1 LTD at any of the Electric Bike Expos by riding a Stromer. Many of the other exhibitors were providing discount coupons that could be redeemed at the local dealers. No sales happen directly at the Expo events to keep them fun, educational, and low pressure. 
Local eBike celebrity Turbo Bob was in attendance! Turbo held 2 fun rides from the Expo to Cabrillo National Park and he test rode a bunch of the eBikes at the Expo. Here is Turbo’s review of the Expo. There were a number of local dealers in attendance showing off some of their electric bikes and accessories. In attendance were Moment Bicycles, El Camino Bike Shop, San Diego Fly Rides, Bicycle Warehouse, and Pedego Temecula. There were a number of presentations during the Expo including: How California is Leading the U.S. in Promoting eBikes, Cycling Safety & Awesome Short Tours in San Diego, Bicycle Commuting Tips, and Electric Bikes & Tourism. 
Dave Snyder from the California Bicycle Coalition presented “How California is Leading the U.S. in Promoting eBikes” and he presented that CalBike is working on the “creation of a $10 million Bicycle Purchase Incentive Pilot Program. The program would rebate half of the cost of bikes that are commonly used for commuting, up to a maximum rebate of $500. Under the program, California would pay for half the cost of cargo bikes, electric bikes, folding bikes, bike share, and other utilitarian bicycles used for everyday transportation.” 
Overall it was great to see the enthusiasm for electric bikes from the attendees who knew a lot about electric bikes to the attendees who had never ridden one but were excited to try them. Some people spent multiple days at the Expo ridding as many eBikes as they could!
Come on down to the #SanDiego Electric Bike Expo this weekend at Liberty Station and ride the latest electric bikes for free! A video posted by Electric Bike Expo (@electricbikeexpo) on
Checkout an Electric Bike Expo event near you! Next up are Houston, Palo Alto, Portland, and Denver. We are also planning for more locations in the Midwest and East Coast…..stay tuned for more on that!
-Pete
P.S. Don’t forget to join the Electric Bike Report community for updates from the electric bike world, plus ebike riding and maintenance tips!
About Pete
Reader Interactions
Comments
Leave a Reply
I felt that the crowd was larger than in Tempe, but thé track was much smaller, causing gridlock and potentiel accidents. There were safety monitors stationed along the course as à precaution, but in some ways it made thé course even more hazardous. Riders had to dodge monitors around corners that made maneuvering even more difficult. Great event, but have to look in to solving this problem for future évents.