Inside London’s booming E-Bike industry Ever since so-called ‘Boris Bikes’ were introduced to London almost 15 years ago, the hired bike market has boomed in London, particularly since the introduction of electric cycles. There are more than 40,000 e-bikes available for hire in the capital and a quarter of them are run and owned by Forest, who invited the Evening Standard behind the scenes to check out their operation in Elephant and Castle.