More people in California are buying eBikes to combat record-high gas prices

Jacob Stabler, co-owner of ATV Wholesale Outlet in Sacramento, is experiencing the spike in eBike sales firsthand as lately he is hardly able to keep up with the demand.

“We tapped into just the right market at just the right time,” Stabler told ABC10. “We’re starting to see a little bit of a downturn in sales on the gas powered stuff and now we’re seeing a shift in desire from consumers for the electric bikes,”

The long-standing family-owned motorsports shop has made the decision recently to stock up on eBikes following soaring gas prices and a noticeable trend in the consumer market.

“In the last year, we decided to dabble with some of the electric bikes and it absolutely exploded,” Stabler said. “We’ve traditionally for 17 years been a gas-powered dealership, but every day we open up the store and people are coming in for more and more electric bikes.”

While already an extremely popular mode of transportation for decades in Asian and European countries, the U.S. is only considered at a median growth rate in eBike sales and popularity.

Nonetheless, the U.S. is seeing higher rates of growth and interest in electric bikes every year.

Stabler thinks people are opting for electric bikes because they are only pennies at a charge compared to the amount people are paying to get around in a gas-powered vehicle these days.

Pat Kendrix, who works in San Francisco, says she has to commute four days a week from Castro Valley and spends over $100 a week on gas.