“We buy bikes that are already electric, meaning we don't electrify them, we don't make deep modifications to the bike. Instead, we try to bring it back to its original state,” explains Thibault Pénicaut.
These are second-hand bikes purchased from individuals, rental companies, professionals, and businesses, which will go through about fifty steps in the workshops of Neold.
Here, the mechanical parts, brakes, transmissions, chains, tires, and electrical components, batteries, motors, and electronics are checked, which will then be re-warrantied upon completion.
And contrary to popular belief, the lifespan of batteries is quite significant. "An electric battery, when new at least, can allow us to cover 25,000 km before it is no longer sufficient to power the bike,” explains Thibault. “We are far from the average usage of a French person, so often it is more about the number of years rather than the intensity of use that leads people to change their battery.”
When the battery reaches the end of its life, Neold works with an eco-organization that will recycle it. They can also be used, when they lose power, as home storage batteries. “They still have potential, and the idea is to use them fully.”
The main argument for the public to equip themselves with a refurbished electric bike remains the price. They are between 40 and 60% cheaper than the same new model. This allows for better accessibility for a product that still costs around 2,000 euros when it leaves the factory, which is the median salary in France.
This process has existed for a long time in the automotive sector, although there we talk about second-hand rather than refurbishment. A system that Thibault knows well. “I participated in the early days of the classifieds site Le Bon Coin. So I've always been quite sensitive to these issues of second-hand, reuse, and so on,” he recounts.
He realizes, in fact, that the second-hand bike market, especially electric ones, is relatively unstructured. "These are bikes that are used every day to transport children, go to work, that are expensive, that require warranty, financing, maintenance. In short, we are really getting closer to the automobile, and people have the same expectations of a bike. So we needed to provide them with a service at a more affordable price that makes sense,” concludes Thibault.
