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 machine. 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 return it in the form of electric assistance when it is necessary to press a little more on the pedals, in the event of a hill or acceleration.
“They have an 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 deboning commercial bicycles to insert its technology. They were marketed within days, to some of the 10,000 fans who follow the STEE project on social media.
Gear sold for 1995 euros for the moment
STEE will now launch the manufacture of around a hundred additional units and intends to produce a thousand in one year. The small company has also just signed with the Boulanger sign for the future distribution of its machines, which are currently sold at a price of 1995 euros.