Saint-Étienne converts its bikes to electric shared services

Launched in 2012, the Saint-Étienne Metropole’s self-service bike rental service is moving to 100% electric models.

The bike no longer pedals through the semolina. To further encourage its residents to give up—when the opportunity arises—their cars for short trips, the Saint-Étienne metropolis is making significant investments in an electric self-service bike offer.

While the previous offer, initiated in 2012 with the French company Fifteen, included around 360 mechanical bikes spread across 32 stations, the Saint-Étienne metropolitan network now features 1,050 electric bikes and 105 stations. Vélivert—the service name in the city—benefits from Fifteen’s latest technological advancements, including an approximately 65 km range and an RFID reader that unlocks the bike using the Île-de-France transport card Oùra and/or the dedicated Vélivert app.

The deployed stations are also at the forefront of technology. Ultra-compact, lightweight, and easy to install, they can accommodate 10 bikes within the space of a parking spot. Thanks to Fifteen’s patented technology, the bikes recharge in series via electromagnets: only a single electrical connection is needed for each station. This is an ideal solution that is clearly missing in Paris, where self-service providers besides Vélib’ do not centralize their bikes at specific points, but leave them parked anywhere, often overturned… which adds dirt to frustration.

As a reminder, Fifteen bikes are now assembled in France, in Auxi-le-Château in Pas-de-Calais.

READ ALSO: Banning shared e-scooters in Paris: “Everywhere we are told to share resources, yet we are forced to buy a scooter”