Loud Mobility, the social enterprise on a mission to make sustainable mobility more inclusive, will showcase its ‘She’s Electric’ experience across all Everything Electric UK events this year.
She’s Electric aims to inspire more women to use electric bikes as a mode of transport in their daily lives, with the target of reaching one million women by the end of 2024.
What began as an awareness campaign on Cyclechic’s platforms, before Loud Mobility acquired the cycling e-commerce business, will now meet Everything Electric’s audience of more than 70,000 people in three events across the UK.
“This is a massive boost towards that goal. What we love about this partnership with Everything Electric is they already have a huge audience,” Loud Mobility Director of Community and Culture Caz Conneller told Zag Daily.
“It’s people that are interested in electric vehicles, people that are interested in sustainable home energy, it’s a real broad-reaching market. To be able to tap into that market with our activation is a perfect step towards our goal to reach one million women and diversify our market.”
The announcement comes on International Women’s Day, exactly one year after Caz met Loud Mobility Founder Georgia Yexley for the first time.
“We are delighted to welcome She’s Electric to our first Everything Electric London show which opens at the ExCel later this month,” said Everything Electric Show Chief Communications Officer Sophie Perrygrove. “Not only will they be bringing a range of e-bikes and cargo bikes for our test track that have been selected with women in mind, there will also be an hour dedicated each day to women only test rides for the first time ever at our events.
“This is in recognition of the gender gap in e-mobility and the importance of supporting women to explore the benefits of e-bikes.”
In 2022 males took almost three times as many cycling trips as women and cycled three times the distance on average. The gender disparity goes beyond bikes, with a 2021 study by shared micromobility operator Dott finding that 29% of users were women while 71% were men across all its vehicles.
Cycling through a holistic lens
For Caz and Georgia, an ‘us vs them’ mentality cannot exist between cyclists and drivers if mass behavioural change is the goal.
This is one reason why the Everything Electric events, which target a range of diverse attendees, are a good medium to spread the ‘She’s Electric’ message – a campaign which promotes cycling for enjoyment above all.
“Sometimes you are a driver and sometimes a car is the best vehicle to use, but you could integrate an e-bike into some of those journeys,” Caz said.
Another core focus of the campaign is to frame cycling around a woman’s lifestyle – something that Caz set out to do when she founded Cyclechic.
“We want to move away from the sporty lycra connotations that are entrenched in cycling and bring in more of a lifestyle benefit, and the fact that this is a mode of transport that can work with women’s lives.
“It’s time to move away from the road cycling, mountain biking images that have built up around cycling particularly in the UK over the last ten or twenty years.”
The She’s Electric team will offer cycling guidance at the Electric Everything events as well as an on-site She’s Electric Boutique – a chance for women to try on stylish clothes and accessories for when they cycle.
“Having the boutique welcomes women in. It’s not a hard sell but it’s something for women to engage with, whether it’s cycling jeans or a bike helmet. There’ll be seating and mirrors too, to create an environment that might just be more appealing for women.”
The She’s Electric team will be helping women find the right e-bike from a range of different models available, from longtail compact cargo bikes and folding models, to the front-loading family cargo bike mode like CaGo.
Women will be able to receive guidance on safety training, connecting with community groups and cycling buddies from the She’s Electric team.
“These are bikes selected by a group of women, for women,” Caz said.
