The folding bicycle maker Brompton is predicting electric bikes could make up at least half its business within the next 10 years, as it broadens the appeal of cycling beyond the traditional market of lycra-clad males.

Brompton makes 50,000 bikes a year at its factory in Greenford, west London, but is aiming to double production in five years if Brexit does not get in the way.

It has sold more than 2,500 of its new ebikes, which use a battery to help make pedalling easier, since their launch in August last year and believes they will become increasingly popular, particularly among women.

Will Butler-Adams, the chief executive of the privately owned company, says ebikes could make up at least half the business within 10 years as they help broaden the appeal of cycling beyond the male fitness fans who make up the majority of bike buyers in the UK now.

He likens the potential impact of the ebike to that of the smartphone, predicting it will “radically change how people live in cities”.

Brompton sales rose by 15% in the year to March despite difficulties in the UK bicycle market. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

Buyers will be attracted by the fun element of the bike, he says. “Put somebody on an ebike and they just smile. It’s fun, You get the health benefit but unconsciously as it is so much fun you have done seven miles without noticing it.”

Just 4% of of people in Britain cycle regularly, according to the Cycling UK, with safety and the ability to navigate traffic cited as being among the biggest concerns.

Butler-Adams is aiming to sell at least 6,000 ebikes this year and will take the bike, which was developed over six years with help from Formula One team Williams, to Germany and the US in the next few months. The bike is already on sale in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and France, as well as the UK.

Will Butler-Adams, the CEO of Brompton, says the company is struggling to keep up with demand. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

The ebike is part of a wider strategy to target the 95% of people who are able to ride a bike, but do not do so regularly.

Brompton already has more female riders than many other bikes, as it is relatively light and easier to carry. But the company is trying to do more by opening its own stores in high-profile locations, such as Covent Garden or Westfield shopping centre in London, employing some female assistants and making the outlets more like a normal retailer than a traditional blokey bike shop.

It is also putting £1m into expanding its bike hire scheme – under which a Brompton can be rented for £3.50 a day – to 50 more sites over the next three years, which is about double the number it has presently.

At a cost of more than £2,500 for an ebike, and at least £725 for a traditional folding version, a Brompton is not obviously accessible for a wide audience.

A member of staff works on building wheels. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

But Butler-Adams says the company is struggling to keep up with demand as the bikes are built to last, easy to store and carry on public transport and built by employees who are paid the London living wage plus a share of profits.

“If you said to me 10 years ago that someone would spend £800 on a phone I would have laughed you out of the joint. Why are we spending that? Because it’s useful.”

With 35 designers, and a team of IT experts now in place, Brompton is working on a family of bikes which will broaden its appeal further.

“Our houses are smaller and smaller and we buy more and more crap to put in our small houses. We need to move to not having a new phone every two years and chucking it in the bin but having things that are better quality and more relevant and longer lasting and sustainable consumerism.”

Brompton is aiming to sell at least 6,000 ebikes this year and will take the bike to Germany and the US in the next few months. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

Butler-Adams says that more people are turning to companies like Brompton which “walk the talk” on the environment and looking after their staff, and those which don’t will ultimately be winkled out given the ease of finding information online.

“Unless you start giving a shit you are going to go bust. With younger people, if you don’t engage with their values then they will walk. Not just in the UK but all over the world,” he says.

Butler-Adams says sales rose about 15% in the year to March despite difficulties in the bike market – the retail chain Evans went into administration last year, while smaller rival Cycle Surgery has scaled back.

Brompton parts at the site in Greenford. The company has stockpiled £1.5m worth of parts because of Brexit. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

As Brompton tries to keep up with demand, Butler-Adams says the company has been eating into its £1.5m stockpile of parts because it is producing more bikes than expected this year. It keeps its stocks in a warehouse near Heathrow to act as a backup in case of any Brexit-related problems with imports.

But Butler-Adams says £1m of the stockpile will be staying in place for about two years in an attempt to combat the potential stresses caused by Brexit-related changes in import and export charges, and procedures.

“The fall in the value of the pound helps [with exports] and might protect us against a hard Brexit but net it is going to hurt,” he says.

• This article was amended on 24 June 2019 to correct the spelling of the word “pedalling”.