Lately e-bike usage began skyrocketing in France. Discover why France could soon be second only to the Netherlands for per capita ebike diffusion.
What should boost ebike diffusion in France in the medium-term:
- France is the world number one for tourism, with more than 83 million visitors a year
- its landscape is awesome, with a thick network of pleasant country, mountain and coastal roads
- in Europe, only Germany has got more cycling tourists
- there are already more than 18,848 km of bike paths, and the government plans to set up more than 225 587 km for 2030, interconnected
- big companies like Valeo and many startups produce ebikes or ebikes parts
- most French residences have a garage or a garden to comfortably charge ebikes
- many large city governments, like Paris and Grenoble, strongly promote bike usage
- states subsidies for ebikes are conspicuous: a whopping 3,000 € for any e-bike, provided that you have a low income and give-in a combustion engine car for demolition; anyway minimum €300 and max €400 for a city or mountain ebike, up to €1000 for a cargo ebike,
The actual diffusion of ebikes in France
ebike made in France
In 2021, the bike was the best-selling transport means in France, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The bicycle market in France in 2021 reached euros 3.4 billion: growing by 15% compared to 2020 in value, and 25% in units of bikes and ebikes sold. In the last two years, the bike and ebike market has grown by a whopping 43%.
In the same year, 2.8 million bikes were sold in France, totaling 3,4 billion euros. About one out of four was an ebike, what accounted for 59% of the global sales value, since ebikes are more expensive. So 660,000 of the 2.8 million bicycles sold in France in 2021 were electric bicycles. This segment represents 24% of the overall market in units (one in four bikes) and 59% in value (€ 2 billion!).
800,000 bicycles were produced in France in 2021 (+21% compared to 2020), half of which were ebikes. In 2022, production should approach one million units, although nearly all motors, most of frames and batteries will still be imported from China or from Taiwan. Nevertheless, the French ebike industry seems quite creative and successful, having for instance recently presented an ebike motor with integrated gearshift. Among the French most popular ebike producers, let me quote Moustache (high-quality ebikes), Kiffy et Gaya (cargo ebikes).
Moreover, ebikes are becoming definitely trendy in France. Bicycle trips, be it for commuting to work or for leisure, have doubled since 2018. The government hopes to increase the percentage of bike trips to 9% of the total, compared to a 7% average in the European Union. Yet, that is still far away from the 23% of bike trips average of the Netherlands, where half the bike sold nowadays are ebikes.
The French way of preparing the future
There is a growing consensus that we will be less dependent on fossil fuels in the coming years. To this regard, the French government seems hell-bent to reach this goal. We remember the first oil crisis caused by the Kippur war in 1974. Back then, the French state drastically diminished its dependence on oil and gas for electricity generation, building nuclear power plants that covered 75% of electricity production.
France has already invested half a billion euros to foster bike and ebike usage in the past four years, and a new plan of €250 million has been announced by the French prime minister, Elisabeth Borne. 50 million will be spent for bike parking facilities (like the sheltered and locking bike parking in the top photo) and 200 million for infrastructures.
We bet the French will achieve remarkable results even for electro mobility diffusion.
