The France government grants 1,500 euros aid for buying an electric bicycle

Concerning the bicycles, it is intended to promote its use "as an alternative to the individual vehicle, thus promoting the change towards sustainable mobility, particularly in urban and peri-urban areas." And, to achieve this, the so-called conversion premium aid has just been extended, which aims to encourage the purchase of electric bicycles or cargo bikes in exchange for the scrapping of polluting cars or old trucks. The maximum amount of this government aid will be 1,500 euros, which should not exceed 40% of the total cost of the e-bike. In the case of cargo bikes, the government aid is extended to individuals, local authorities, associations or professionals, and the amount remains at 1,000 euros.

Although some groups have criticized the measure as insufficient, in general, it has been well received in the local bicycle industry. As explained to the newspaper Le Parisien by the president of the French Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB): "thanks to these measures we not only eliminate polluting cars, but we also reduce, in general, the traffic of automobiles replacing them by bicycles ".

The fact that the aid, in principle, only goes to electric bikes and not to conventional bicycles has received criticism: "They would have to explain why an electric bicycle, with a disproportionate carbon footprint due to the use of a battery of lithium and multiple recharges, it is a great advance for the planet, "said Maxime Juriste on Twitter after the announcement. "The only real ecological energy is human energy ... the mechanical and conventional bicycle!"