Cargo bikes, these large electric bicycles capable of carrying heavy crates, could establish themselves as an alternative to the most polluting vehicles.

This type of transport, which represents 85% less CO2 than a van and is used in particular for craftsmen, deliverers or plumbers, will soon be subsidized.

At the end of weeks of passionate debates, the National Assembly must adopt this Tuesday the climate bill, touted by the majority as a "marker of the five-year term" but decried by environmentalists for its "inadequacies" in the face of "the climate emergency ".

One of the objectives of the text is in particular to create low emission zones in towns with more than 150,000 inhabitants.

For this, bicycle-freighters could establish themselves as an alternative to the most polluting vehicles.

The Minister for the Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, wants to include them in the scope of the conversion bonus. 

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Ditch the old diesel vans

The idea is to avoid having to use the good old diesel van to transport goods or ensure deliveries.

For that the first of the incentives will be to finance each package delivered up to 2 euros.

The idea is also to encourage craftsmen to buy them, because these bikes are still expensive, around 4,000 euros per unit.

And to reduce investment, Barbara Pompili, Minister of Ecological Transition, wants to develop a plan to include them in the list of vehicles benefiting from the conversion bonus.

"When an individual or a company gets rid of an old thermal vehicle, they can be helped with the purchase of an electric bike or a cargo bike," she explains.

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Create hubs to store them

If no indication of the amount of the premium has yet been given, the Federation of bicycle users does not imagine less than 2,500 euros to compensate for sending an old van to the scrapyard.

But expanding the fleet is not enough, because the cargo bike only works for short distances.

Communities will therefore have to create hubs, storage and parking centers, so that user craftsmen do not have to travel too long.

But even on small trips, the gain is significant: a cargo bike in fact represents 85% less CO2 than a van. The idea is not to fight against global warming, but rather to make the air in large cities more breathable.