Car brands are getting serious about electric bikes

Porsche, the most ambitious on the electric bike market, already offers models at more than 8000 € and is preparing a serious offensive. The German has thus invested in the Greyp brand and bought the electric motor specialist Fazua in 2022.

Porsche eBike Performance will develop and market advanced motors, electric batteries and software for bicycles, and aims to launch a new range by 2025. The sports brand, which aims for 80% electric sales in 2030 for its vehicles, describes itself as “a pioneer in sustainable mobility”. And according to the expression of a spokesperson interviewed by AFP, “the number of wheels does not matter”.

Mini is also getting into the game. The connected bicycle start-up Angell announced on Thursday March 2, 2023 that it would design and manufacture a range of electric bicycles in France for the British brand. Mini, revived in 2000 by the BMW group, is thus seeking to strengthen its urban and electric identity, with the aim of marketing 100% battery-powered cars by the end of the decade.

A cousin bond

When Angell launched in 2019, the start-up had “hit hard enough on the car, individual and thermaljust like its competitor VanMoof, underlines its founder, the French entrepreneur Marc Simoncini. But from the moment the car becomes electric and less individual, we say to ourselves that the fight is won. The Mini is very urban, it is our core target and our expertise”.

There is a “cousins” between the bicycle and the car, linked to the history of the industrial revolution, explains the designer Jean-Louis Fréchin, curator of the exhibition Bicycle(s), riding bicycles presented in Saint-Étienne until May 1st. But after the Second World War, the bicycle, “first individual mobility tool”was downgraded by the car, which confined him “to sport and cycle tourism”, he points out. Automotive brands remained present in the cycle with mixed success and engagement.

Peugeot, a time number 1 in the world for bicycles, and Renault (then owner of Cycles Gitane) faced off on the roads of the Tour de France in the late 1970s. Peugeot still has a range of bicycles, but assembled by a partner. Both Audi and Honda came up with revolutionary bike concepts, engineers’ dreams that never made it to market.

More serious initiatives

Countless manufacturers have also launched bicycles, or more recently scooters, under their brand, such as the very exclusive Lamborghini, Bugatti and even Ducati.

At the end of 2022, Renault successfully marketed a carbon racing bike (€9,000), designed with the manufacturer Lapierre, to promote its Alpine sports brand. An all-terrain model is planned for this summer.

“A lot of brands have launched limited edition bikes to accompany their cars in showrooms, but we are starting to see more serious initiativescomments Adam Tranter, director of the British marketing agency Fusion Media, which specializes in cycling. We are beginning to understand that cars are not suitable for cities: even the bosses of Ford and Volkswagen have asked for more spaces suitable for cycling and walking”.

Toyota agrees: the world’s number one automobile will market in its French concessions a cargo bike in its colors, designed by the manufacturer Douze Cycles to transport children like goods.

Volkswagen had also developed a cargo bike, but problems with the supply of parts and inflation on raw materials got the better of this ambitious project developed in-house.

Behind the manufacturers, other automotive giants are betting on the electric bike. Equipment manufacturers such as Bosch, Mahle and Valeo have thus developed engines and other parts. Four Savoyard suppliers also presented the futuristic Casserolea chainless bike with an automatic gearbox.