Some electric bikes go at 50 km / h, the helmet is therefore compulsory and the cycle paths prohibited. To develop long bicycle journeys, the Netherlands will install automatic limiters on the fastest self-service bikes so that they can use the cycle paths. This innovation echoes Cityscoot which requests to use bus lanes with speed limits.
The innovation of the day is a solution to encourage more people to go to work by bike, even when you live on the outskirts. It would be to unleash electric bikes and limit their speed automatically on cycle paths.
There are very powerful electric bikes that can go at 50 km / h, the famous Speed Pedelec. The problem is that they are considered as mopeds, therefore compulsory insurance and helmet. Above all, prohibition to go on cycle paths because of the speed differential with conventional bikes.
Suddenly, it is rather dissuasive for "bikers", those who go to work by bike. On the outskirts, everything is fine, they can go fast. But arrived in the city center, they find themselves stranded in the middle of the cars.
Hence the idea of installing a speed limiter that activates automatically when the bike enters a cycle path. No more speed differential. So we would have the right to borrow them. This is exactly what will happen in the Netherlands in the coming months.
How do we reduce the speed automatically?
With a system which uses GPS and which communicates with the panels to restrict the pedaling assistance.
It will be tested in the city of Schiphol near Amsterdam. We would like to see more airport employees come to work on two wheels. But since some come from far away, we want to make their task easier with more powerful bikes.
But it's high end, are these bikes expensive?
Between 3,000 and 4,000 euros. But precisely, the city will rent them at seven euros per month with the speed limit, which is quite reasonable. So it would be a good idea to import into France given the current enthusiasm for cycling, even outside the big cities.