Electric dirt bikes open off-road riding to new riders
More Americans are getting outside than ever before. Some 183 million people took part in outdoor recreation in the U.S. in 2025, nearly 30 million more than in 2019, according to the Outdoor Industry Association. For some, that means hiking or camping. For a smaller but growing group, however, it means dirt biking.
Off-road riding has long been a relatively niche sport, partly because gas-powered dirt bikes can be hard to handle and maintain. However, a new generation of electric models is starting to change that.
Tasaca, an off-road electric dirt bike manufacturer, looks at what is driving that shift.
The outdoor economy keeps growing
The sport as a whole has benefited from a renewed interest in the great outdoors. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) valued the outdoor recreation sector at $696.7 billion in 2024, equivalent to 2.4% of GDP. Adjusted for inflation, the industry grew 2.7% that year, roughly in line with the wider economy. Boating and fishing comprise the largest conventional outdoor activity, generating about $38 billion in value added, followed by RVing at $27.5 billion.
Adventure travel, whether that's trekking, hiking or camping, is taking off worldwide too, with Grand View Research valuing the sector at $464 billion in 2025 and forecasting annual growth of 19% through 2033. The U.S. remains the largest individual country market.
Off-road motorcycling is among the many sports that have benefited from this renewed interest in the great outdoors. The BEA groups motorcycles and ATVs together, making them the fourth-largest conventional outdoor recreation category in the U.S.
"Even when accounting for inflation, the industry held steady, reflecting the continued strength and enthusiasm for powersports recreation," said Buckner Nesheim, director of research and statistics at the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC), in response to the BEA data.
Interestingly, U.S. motorcycle sales fell overall 7.6% in 2025, according to the MIC, but the dirt bike market kept growing. Mordor Intelligence valued the global dirt bike market at $9.7 billion in 2025 and expects it to reach $13.6 billion by 2031. Electric models are the fastest-growing segment, with a forecast annual growth of 7.1%, although gasoline bikes still made up 72% of unit sales in 2025.
From niche experiment to mainstream option
While electric dirt bike sales are growing quickly, the technology is not new. Zero Motorcycles was founded in Santa Cruz, California, in 2006 by Neal Saiki, a former NASA engineer and keen mountain biker. The company even put 10 of its Zero X bikes and 50 riders through a 24-hour endurance race in San Jose in 2008. The event, dubbed "24 Hours of Electricross," was an attempt to prove that electric bikes could withstand as much as their gas-powered counterparts. The winning team logged 507.5 miles.
Those early bikes, however, were expensive for what they offered. When it was released, the Zero X 2009 model cost around $7,450, plus $2,950 for a spare battery, which added a claimed 40 miles of range. Unsurprisingly, enthusiasts were their primary target market.
Newer models have a broader appeal, with Stark Future, the Barcelona-based maker of the Varg, reporting revenue of 115 million euros ($131 million) in 2025, up 77% on the year before.
And the growth shows no signs of slowing down. Industry Research projects the global high-performance electric motorcycle market will grow from $822 million in 2026 to $7.1 billion by 2035, a compound annual growth rate of 27%.
Regulation is also a sign that the category is moving beyond its niche roots. California's SB 586, in force since Jan. 1, 2026, created a legal category for electric off-highway motorcycles, which now require the same Green Sticker registration as gas dirt bikes.
What's changed for riders
So what is driving this new wave of interest? The obvious but incomplete answer is that today's electric dirt bikes are simply a step up from the first generation.
Early electric dirt bikes typically came with a 2 kWh battery that could generate about 23 horsepower. Today, some full-size models carry batteries exceeding 7 kWh, more than three times the capacity, and produce 60 or 80 horsepower depending on the version. Charging has improved as well, with some modern bikes able to recharge in one to two hours despite carrying batteries more than three times larger than those of early models.
Prices, however, have dropped considerably thanks to falling battery manufacturing costs. BloombergNEF found that the average price of a lithium-ion battery pack fell to $108 per kilowatt-hour in 2025, down 8% in a year.
And that shows up in what riders pay. Popular lightweight electric dirt bikes can now sell for around $5,500, roughly $2,000 less than some early models cost nearly two decades ago, even before accounting for inflation.
Lower prices are helping open up electric dirt bikes to more riders, but affordability is only part of the appeal. Electric models are often more approachable to general consumers than gas bikes, too.
On a gas dirt bike, for instance, the rider uses a clutch to shift through the gears. Most electric dirt bikes have no clutch and just one gear. As a result, reviewers often describe electric models as easier to pick up than gas bikes.
Many experienced riders likely consider that a drawback, though. Working the clutch is widely acknowledged as a key skill in the sport, and removing it is akin to removing the net from tennis.
For newcomers, though, removing those steps can make learning easier. On top of that, it is also easier to maintain an electric bike, with most needing no oil changes or air filter cleaning. They are quieter, too, which can make them more suitable for riding in areas where noise is a concern. All these factors lower the barrier to entry.
With more first-time riders taking to the trails, however, safety experts say manufacturers have a responsibility to provide safety training alongside their bikes. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation emphasizes training, route planning and knowing your limits as key parts of safe off-road riding.
Despite their rising popularity, electric dirt bikes don't look set to replace their gas-powered counterparts anytime soon. Range remains a major drawback for many riders, while electric bikes still tend to cost more than comparable gas models. But they are, at least, becoming a credible alternative.
This story was produced by Tasaca and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
