Any evidence of the rumored ebike back log due to COVID?

[mata2maui]

I did notice that when Bianchi came out with their newer E-Omnia line in 2020-2021 the initial MSRP's were $6000-$6500, then they dropped to $4200-$4900. Also, some of the larger ebike retailers like Propel seem to have a lot of inventory on close-out. If there are a ton of unsold 2020-2021 ebikes that means when you buy one your getting a two-year-old battery right out of the gate. Most manufacturers that offer a battery warranty restrict it to two years or 500 charge cycles, whichever comes first; like R&M, for example. Obviously, the warranty begins when you buy it but that does not change the age of the LI cells.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I did notice that when Bianchi came out with their newer E-Omnia line in 2020-2021 the initial MSRP's were $6000-$6500, then they dropped to $4200-$4900. Also, some of the larger ebike retailers like Propel seem to have a lot of inventory on close-out. If there are a ton of unsold 2020-2021 ebikes that means when you buy one your getting a two-year-old battery right out of the gate. Most manufacturers that offer a battery warranty restrict it to two years or 500 charge cycles, whichever comes first; like R&M, for example. Obviously, the warranty begins when you buy it but that does not change the age of the LI cells.

Typically, a factory new battery is stored in "hibernated" state and gets only activated on the first use. The battery warranty counts since the purchase.
For instance, the "gray" battery for my Vado 6.0 was manufactured in 2017, I purchased the e-bike in 2019, and only then the battery got "woken up" from the hibernated state. It is still my second best Vado battery, and now we are in 2023.