Faced with soaring fuel prices, electric bikes are on the rise in cities

Cargo bikes, mountain bikes, or folding bikes... In this store located in Gennevilliers, the bikes are all electric and reconditioned. Arthur enters the store. “My partner,” he explains to the salesman, “bought a bike from you and I’m interested in having some information on possibly buying a second one, but a little different.” The price of fuel is still very high: more than two euros on average per liter, everywhere in France. To save money, some, like Arthur, are ready to change their mode of transportation.

Arthur usually travels on a motorbike. But since the rise in fuel prices, it has become very complicated. “I put 25 euros of gas per week into the motorbike, I go slower than on a bike, it makes more noise, it’s more difficult to maintain,” he notes. After a few pedal strokes, he gives his verdict: "It's incredible! You really feel a difference. It's super comfortable. We feel like it can climb any hill." Still count 1,200 euros per bike. “I'm going to sell my motorbike which costs 2,000 euros, I'm going to save on petrol. So, I think that, overall, it will be rather positive for my wallet”, estimates Arthur.

“It’s a budget, but it saves money, I think, in the long run.”

There have been dozens of testimonies like this over the past few weeks. For this reconditioned electric bike company, sales have jumped 20% since July. “In our recent discussions, the argument of fuel prices comes up much more presently, says Jean-Adrien Monleau, the France director for the company Upway. Switching to an electric bike rather than traveling by car can save between 50 and 70 euros per month.”

A phenomenon that must be qualified, according to Virgile Caillet, general delegate of the Union of Sports and Cycle Companies (UESC): "I would still be careful to immediately associate the phenomenon with the increase in fuel costs. This may be true in urban areas. On the other hand, in rural areas, it is much more complicated to transfer these trips from the car to the bicycle, even if we use an electrically assisted bicycle."

“It is rather an underlying trend, with perhaps an acceleration linked to this phenomenon of the increase in fuels.”

Other brands such as Decathlon, Culture Vélo and Intersport confirm that sales of electric bikes have increased in recent months: up to 30% more compared to last year.