VIDEO. My dear electric bike

Queues in stores, backorders on the Internet: it’s the incredible rush on the electrically assisted bicycle (VAE): 390,000 copies sold in France in 2019 (i.e. + 12%) and perhaps a million per year from 2025. And prices are rising: 1,750 euros on average, and up to 5,000 for the most sophisticated.

High margins for sellers, subsidies for buyers…

So everyone gets on board: traditional manufacturers, household appliance brands and hitherto unknown brands are offering their electric bikes. Professionals are rubbing their hands, because the margins are much higher than for conventional bikes. The elect also push the wheel. Large or small cities, cycle paths are traced in an emergency, and subsidies paid to buyers, sometimes up to half the price of the bike.

In short, it would have all the virtues: economical, ecological, good for health, the perfect competitor to the car. But is it so sure? To get to the bottom of it, our journalist also bought an electric bike and asked herself a lot of questions. Are all pedelecs repairable? What happens to lithium batteries at the end of their life? Who really benefits from public subsidies?

An investigation by Elvire Berahya-Lazarus, Charles Maumy and Xavier Gaillard for CAT&Cie rebroadcast in “Special Envoy” on October 13, 2022.

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