At first glance, Adrien Lelièvre's city bike, an elegant blue model called Pipop, looks like a "classic" electric bicycle.
In fact, it is a revolutionary device.
Electric certainly, but without battery, and the invention, patented, is made in Loiret.
It is the result of several years of research and development carried out by his electronics company, STEE, which he took over in 2016 and which employs 25 people in Olivet (Loiret).
This bike, which weighs 20 kilos, carries supercapacitors, which store energy from the effort produced by the cyclist and restore it in the form of electric assistance as soon as you have to press a little more on the pedals, in the event of a slope or acceleration.
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“They have excellent performance.
The advantage is that it is not necessary to have recharged your battery when you want to take your bike out.
We consume less, and in addition these components do not contain rare earths”, underlines the boss.
The company whose main activity is the manufacture of electronic cards has already assembled 20 bicycles, which it produces by taking apart commercial bicycles to insert its technology.
They were released within days, to some of the 10,000 fans who follow STEE's project on social media.
Machines sold for 1995 euros for the moment
STEE will now launch the manufacture of a hundred additional units and expects to produce a thousand in one year.
The small company has also just signed with the Boulanger brand for the future distribution of its machines, which are currently sold at a price of 1995 euros.