BE 5.0 - SALON INDUSTRIES DU FUTUR MULHOUSE 2025

Resist Eurocluster Eurocluster Resist brings Karbikes' innovative cargo bike to Strasbourg

A bicycle with four wheels, reverse gear and automatic gearbox: the half-cycle, half-car creation of the young Karbikes company is going through its stages one by one, with the aim of reaching an initial production threshold of 150 models next year, destined for individuals, local authorities and companies, notably for last-mile goods delivery. Its recent developments benefit from the technical and financial support of Resist Eurocluster, a European program nearing completion, coordinated by the PĂ´le VĂ©hicule du futur. Its results will be presented at the Be 5.0 - Industries of the Future trade show on its first day, November 26 (*).

Support for innovation in mobility opens doors to an international network of skills: the European Resist Eurocluster program will have enabled this change of dimension for 34 companies involved in the 22 projects it has selected, since September 2022. With three months to go before its official end date of February 2025, most of these initiatives and feedbacks will be presented at the Be 5.0 - Industries of the Future trade show, on November 26 at the Parc Expo in Mulhouse (*). Twelve of the 18 countries involved will be represented.  

The choice of such a place and such a circumstance for the restitution is legitimate. The South Alsace conurbation is the stronghold of the Pôle Véhicule du futur Grand Est - Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, which has taken on the role of coordinator of Resist Eurocluster.As such, it formed the consortium of competitiveness clusters within the European Union required by the European Commission to provide funding for the program's 1.4 million euro budget.

The Cluster turned to “knowledge”... and others, so as to embark on the initiative its counterparts CEAGA and IDia in Spain (from the automotive strongholds of Vigo and Zaragoza respectively), Biz-Up in Austria (Linz) and Autoklastr in the Czech Republic (Ostrava region).“The composition of the consortium gives project leaders access to a much wider network of technological partners than the circle closest to their own bases,” emphasizes Auriane Agard, European project manager at the PĂ´le VĂ©hicule du Futur. 

Valuable support for prototypes

Although Resist Eurocluster also includes training, coaching/mentoring and networking components, for example to integrate beneficiaries into prospecting missions abroad, the theme of innovation was central to the program.

This theme was itself broken down into several possible topics: digitization, introduction of artificial intelligence, robotics, electrification. All this in relation to the automotive industry in particular, and mobility in general.“Most of the companies were not 100% oriented towards this sector, but Resist Eurocluster enabled them to enter it or strengthen their presence,” continues Auriane Agard. The typical beneficiary is a prototype seeking both complementary technological skills and a financial boost, in the order of 20,000 to 30,000 euros. Of the three projects submitted by members of the PĂ´le VĂ©hicule du futur (**), Karbikes is one of them. From Strasbourg, where it was incorporated in 2022, the company is working on perfecting the special type of electric cargo bike it has developed, insofar as its characteristics place this discovery “somewhere between a bicycle and a car”, sums up its director Lucas Vançon. 

From pre-production to production

 Equipped with four wheels and a reverse gear, it moves forward (or backward...) via an automatic gearbox controlling a proportionally powerful motor (250 watts), so that it can carry up to 150 kilos: goods in the single-seater version for “last mile logistics”, or passengers in the two-seater version. “In this way, we can cater for private customers as well as local authorities and businesses,” continues Lucas Vançon.

 Karbikes, which has increased its workforce to 6 people, is currently in the pre-production phase, with the introduction of 15 pioneering models to test users in five French towns (Millau in the Occitanie region, Nantes, Le Mans, Les Mureaux in the Paris region and Loos-en-Gohelle in the Nord region), Switzerland and Belgium, with a view to reaching an initial, more industrial output of 150 vehicles by 2025, by assembling components in the Strasbourg area that are “50% regional and 80% French in origin”, stresses the founding director.

 With this in mind, the company is working to raise around 1 million euros in financing, through public subsidies and a round-table of investors. In relation to the development of its project, which has also been accredited by the PĂ´le VĂ©hicule du futur (**), Resist Eurocluster is supporting in particular the development of a “solar version”: battery charging via an integrated mini-installation of photovoltaic panels, complementary to the current plug-in mode, applicable once the 6 kg battery has been removed from the bike and brought to its charging point by means of a handle. The European program is just one of many contributions to Karbikes' hoped-for take-off, but it's a particularly welcome one. Lucas Vancon spontaneously describes it as “great support”.

  (*) under the heading: Innovation projects for SMEs' green transition 

 (**) the others are Ademus, based in Toul (Meurthe-et-Moselle), for the development of an active regenerative braking system for electric motorcycles, and RH2, based in Auxerre (Yonne), for its hydrogen retrofit concept for diesel engines.