EV BIkes in France

[Glenn Brooks]

Electric bikes are everywhere these days in Nice. Here is a gaggle set on the street in Antibe, for rent to passersby by an enterprising store owner. Each public jurisdiction along the Riveria, and in Paris, also offer substantial EV bike rentals. Sometimes street corners have dozens, as in more than 50 available, at any one time.

I particularly like the fat bike tire configuration- excellent for off road travel, and improved stability on cobblestone paved streets.

[cb_rad...@riseup.net]

Thanks! I would appreciate any recommendations about any electric bike
or scooter which can travel at least 100 miles on one charge, carry a
toolbox and large person, charge in a reasonable time period (I would
probably only be able to charge while at work, then have to travel home
and then back to work on one charge), and be able to withstand being
stored outdoors, and preferably be able to be lifted and carried by one
adult for short-ish distances in an emergency. Is there such a vehicle?
An organization agreed to buy me a scooter for work purposes, but that
was when I thought that the popular $200-300 scooters I had heard of,
would work. If I can keep it under $900-1000, they might still pay.

They want me to be able to go to job sites up to 50 miles away (a union
requirement, and the org with the $$ is affiliated with them). I am
unsure if that is necessary given that I will likely not do the union
apprenticeship, but they don't know that yet. I have been told that the
union requires a smaller set of tools from the apprentice (they have the
contractors supply the rest) and there have been instances of *union*
electricians or apprentices who got to work by scooter, whereas it was
not said to be feasible for a *non-union* multi-employer apprenticeship
because more tools must be transported. I will likely seek to
apprentice as an electrician at a local solar contractor (registered
single-employer apprentice programs do exist but are far less popular
and well known)--or, if possible (pending further research), maybe in
Dublin, Ireland, or Vancouver, Canada (places I hope to move to
permanently as soon as possible, but work experience makes it easier).
So I don't want to blow all my resettlement money on an electric car rn
if I can get out of doing so.

I am also wondering if people know if there is a big difference in the
quality of education I would receive at the places named. I think you
can relate to teh idea that if I want to do renewable energy then it is
bullshit to enter a multi-year program which will not accommodate that,
given other options. And clearly it is bullshit to enter a program
where I would have to change my health insurance provider all the time
due to "not enough work in construction these days" when the solar
industry is booming--and when I am trying to leave the US for that very
reason.

The union is pressuring me to decide soon, while eating up all my time
so I can't research much. (They lied to me on both counts initially.)

Corey Ballantyne

On 2026-03-06 10:15, Glenn Brooks wrote:
> Electric bikes are everywhere these days in Nice. Here is a gaggle set on the street in Antibe, for rent to passersby by an enterprising store owner. Each public jurisdiction along the Riveria, and in Paris, also offer substantial EV bike rentals. Sometimes street corners have dozens, as in more than 50 available, at any one time.
>
> I particularly like the fat bike tire configuration- excellent for off road travel, and improved stability on cobblestone paved streets.
>
>
>

> These bikes run around 1100 USD (999€) in stores.
>
>
>
>
> Electric scooters with handlebars are also quite ubiquitous, costing as little as $100-200 each.
>
>
>
> Glenn
> Sent from my iPad