Complete bicycle
The EU has industrial bicycle production and e-bike assembly. Those facts do not establish the origin of the components inside a finished bicycle.
Eurostat counted 9.7 million non-motorised bicycles made in the EU in 2023. Portugal led the disclosed national figures. Electric-bicycle trade tells the other half of the story: the EU imported 867,000 e-bikes that year, mostly from Taiwan and Vietnam.
This edition maps demonstrated capability, not a specific production model. Every component is classified at the narrowest manufacturing step supported by the cited evidence.
EU bicycle output
9.7 million non-motorised bicycles were produced in the EU in 2023. This establishes the industrial base, not the origin of every component.
EU-27 / production
Electric-bicycle imports
The EU imported 867,000 electric bicycles in 2023; Taiwan accounted for 59% of extra-EU imports by volume.
EU market / global supply
Raw materials
EU refining and recycling capacity is significant for aluminium and copper. Supply remains import-dependent for primary aluminium, battery minerals, natural rubber and rare-earth refining.
Europe retains an aluminium chain from one operating EU bauxite mine through primary metal, extrusion and recycling. Yet industry data says imports supplied 51% of European primary aluminium consumption in 2023. Capability exists; self-sufficiency does not.
Aurubis refines and recycles copper in Germany, Belgium and Bulgaria while also processing imported concentrates. SGL makes carbon-fibre precursor in Portugal and converts it to fibre in Scotland. That chain spans the EU and the United Kingdom, so it is classified as a European partner chain.
Primary aluminium
Europe has the full process chain, but imported ingot supplied just over half of primary consumption in 2023.
EU + EFTA / imported balance
Recycled aluminium
EU recycling capability is mature; Miranda reports more than 80% recycled aluminium in components made in Portugal.
Águeda, Portugal
Copper
Aurubis smelts, refines and recycles copper in EU plants; part of the concentrate feedstock is imported.
DE / BG / BE + global feed
Carbon fibre
SGL’s precursor is made in Portugal and can be converted to carbon fibre in Scotland.
Portugal to United Kingdom
Natural rubber
Europe can manufacture finished bicycle tyres, but their natural-rubber feedstock remains tied to imports concentrated in Southeast Asia.
Southeast Asia
Rare-earth magnets
The Commission says all rare earths used for permanent magnets in the EU are refined in China.
China-dominant refining
Battery minerals
EU extraction and processing cannot yet supply lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite at the scale required.
Global supply
Frame and mechanical components
Factories in Portugal manufacture aluminium frames, rims, complete wheels, cranks and chainrings. German production covers internal-gear hubs, brake masters and finished bicycle tyres.
Triangle’s discloses hydroforming, cutting, robotic welding, heat treatment and painting in Águeda. RODI reports rim and complete-wheel production in Aveiro. Miranda reports crank and chainring production in Águeda.
Aluminium frame
Hydroforming, cutting, robotic welding, heat-treatment and painting for e-bike frames are operated in Portugal.
Triangle’s / Águeda, PT
Aluminium rim
RODI manufactures more than three million aluminium bicycle rims per year in Portugal.
RODI / Aveiro, PT
Complete wheel
RODI reports production of roughly 400,000 complete wheels per year.
RODI / Aveiro, PT
Cranks
Miranda manufactures e-bike cranks at its Portuguese facility.
Miranda / Águeda, PT
Chainring and guard
Miranda’s disclosed in-house e-bike component range includes chainrings and chainguards.
Miranda / Águeda, PT
Internal-gear hub
Rohloff states that 99% of its SPEEDHUB is produced in Germany.
Rohloff / Fuldatal, DE
Brake master
MAGURA manufactures Carbotecture brake masters in the Swabian Jura.
MAGURA / Germany
Finished bicycle tyres
Continental says a large proportion of its bicycle-tyre range is manufactured in Korbach. Natural-rubber origin is classified separately.
Continental / Korbach, DE
Motor and power electronics
Pinion assembles an integrated motor and gearbox in Germany. Yamaha Motor eBike Systems Germany develops and manufactures QORE drives in Berlin. Copper feedstock, magnet materials and semiconductor back-end processes remain mixed or external.
Pinion states that development and assembly happen in Germany and that most MGU components come from partners in Germany and other European countries. The EU status applies to the disclosed drive manufacturing step. It does not apply to every upstream material.
Motor.Gearbox.Unit
Pinion develops and assembles the MGU in Denkendorf, with most components sourced from German and European partners.
Pinion / Denkendorf, DE
QORE drive systems
Yamaha acquired Brose's e-bike drive business in 2025. The Berlin operation now develops and manufactures QORE drive systems.
Yamaha Motor eBike Systems / Berlin, DE
Copper windings
EU smelting and recycling exist, but concentrate feed partly arrives from outside Europe.
EU refining / global ore
Permanent magnets
European motor assembly still inherits the China-dominant rare-earth refining chain.
External strategic input
Battery cells and pack
European companies design and assemble battery packs, including enclosures, battery management, wiring and thermal protection. Cell origin and battery-grade raw materials remain the main unresolved dependencies.
European battery firms assemble systems for light electric vehicles using cells purchased from the global market. The European Court of Auditors identifies production cost and raw-material access as risks to EU battery competitiveness. Pack assembly and cell origin are therefore classified separately.
Battery-pack assembly
Forsee Power demonstrates European pack engineering and assembly, while its CALB agreement documents cell sourcing from China.
European assembly / Chinese cells
Lithium-ion cells
EU cell capacity is growing, but no generic e-bike pack should be presented as EU-cell-made without product-level disclosure.
Global cell market
Battery-grade lithium
Domestic EU extraction and processing do not cover current or expected demand.
Predominantly non-EU
Battery-grade graphite
Graphite is strategic and the European chain remains dependent on external extraction and processing.
Predominantly non-EU
Battery recycling
Umicore’s Hoboken pilot can recover lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper from lithium-ion batteries.
Umicore / Hoboken, BE
Controls, sensors, semiconductors, and software
An e-bike control system includes torque and speed sensing, motor control, battery management, a display, firmware and optional connectivity. EU manufacturing exists for several parts, but chip origin varies by part number and production lot.
Infineon fabricates power semiconductors in Villach and Dresden. ST operates digital, analog, mixed-signal and MEMS fabs in France and Italy. Both companies also use global manufacturing networks. Supplier identity alone does not establish where a specific die was fabricated, packaged and tested.
Power semiconductors
Infineon has high-volume EU fabs, while its manufacturing and back-end network remains global.
Villach, AT / Dresden, DE + global
Microcontrollers
ST has relevant EU fab capability but also uses external foundry and packaging partners.
France / Italy + global
Sensor stack
European sensor capability exists; torque and speed sensor origin still needs part-number-level verification.
EU capability / variable product origin
Connected-bike module
Comodule designs and manufactures its e-bike IoT hardware in-house in Tallinn.
Comodule / Tallinn, EE
Embedded software
European teams develop drive control and connected-bike software; cloud infrastructure is outside this edition’s component boundary.
DE / ES / EE
Assembly, logistics, and standards
Portugal and Poland have demonstrated bicycle and e-bike assembly. EU rules define the pedelec category and battery obligations. Cells, electronics, natural rubber, materials and some finished tyre models keep inbound logistics global.
RTE and Inter Bike provide evidence of OEM bicycle and e-bike production in Portugal, with RTE also operating in Poland. Regulation adds another distinctly European layer: the pedelec category and the Battery Regulation shape how products are built, documented, collected and recycled.
Integrated assembly
RTE integrates multiple bicycle production processes at sites in Portugal and Poland.
RTE / PT + PL
OEM e-bike assembly
Inter Bike develops and produces conventional bicycles and e-bikes in Portugal.
Inter Bike / Portugal
Rules and standards
EU pedelec definitions and battery rules govern assist limits, safety, information, due diligence and end-of-life obligations.
EU single market
Inbound logistics
Final integration can be local while cells, electronics, natural rubber, materials and some finished tyres still move through global routes.
EU assembly / global inbound
Repair, recycling, and circularity
EU facilities recover aluminium, copper and battery metals, while repair rules are developing. These processes reduce demand for virgin inputs but do not remove current dependence on imported materials.
Umicore recovers battery metals in Belgium. European aluminium and copper loops are already industrial. Schwalbe collects and processes used tyres in Germany, then returns recovered material to its Asian production chain. This company-specific loop does not negate Continental's finished-tyre production in Germany.
Battery metal recovery
Umicore reports recovery routes for lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper in Belgium.
Hoboken, Belgium
Schwalbe tyre loop
Collection and pyrolysis happen in Germany, but recovered material feeds Schwalbe's Asian production chain.
Germany to Asia
Aluminium loop
European recycling can keep frame and component material in circulation at far lower energy demand than primary metal, with recycled content documented in Portuguese components.
EU recycling network
Copper loop
Aurubis operates secondary copper production and multimetal recycling in EU plants while importing some primary concentrate.
Germany / Belgium / Bulgaria
Repair framework
EU policy promotes repair and limits unjustified repair barriers where specific product rules apply; whole-bike coverage is still fragmented.
EU single market
Final strategic verdict
EU factories can supply the structure, many mechanical systems, drive assembly, control hardware, software and final assembly. Several essential upstream inputs remain externally concentrated.
Can Europe make the e-bike?
Yes, but.Europe can produce and assemble the structure, mechanics, finished tyres, drive system, control hardware, software and much of the circular afterlife. It cannot yet claim a resilient end-to-end chain while cell materials, cells, rare-earth refining, natural rubber and parts of the semiconductor back-end remain externally exposed.
An international supply chain can be resilient. The identified risk is concentration without substitution: essential inputs supplied by few regions, with no qualified replacement available at short notice.
- Cells and battery minerals: qualify actual EU cell origin and scale domestic processing.
- Permanent magnets: reduce single-country refining concentration and design for alternative motor architectures.
- Natural rubber: distinguish demonstrated European tyre manufacturing from external feedstock concentration.
- Semiconductor traceability: publish die-fab, package and assembly origin at part-number level.
The priority is traceability and substitutability for cells, battery minerals, permanent magnets, natural rubber and semiconductor manufacturing stages.
Read the classification method
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