The number is staggering. According to the French Federation of Bicycle Users, more than 400,000 bicycles are stolen each year in France, or almost one per minute. While the use of the bicycle has exploded in recent years, this real scourge is still one of the main obstacles to the practice. Hence the need and urgency for communities and businesses to offer secure places for users.
In this growing market, the young company Station REV, based in Cesson-Sévigné near Rennes, came up with a solution by fitting out multi-service car parks in old shipping containers. Depending on the model, the stations can accommodate between ten and twenty bicycles. But more than a shelter, they also allow you to recharge your electric bike thanks to photovoltaic panels installed on the roof. “These stations have the advantage of being secure, mobile and self-sufficient in energy,” emphasizes Axel Iauch, co-founder of the company.
Vélotafeur like his colleague Lambert Garnier, with whom he launched Station REV in 2021, Axel Iauch sees these stations as “a place to promote soft mobility and renewable energies. “We also use an already artificialized space and on an area barely larger than a parking space,” he says.
Twenty-five stations installed this year
Intended primarily for cyclists, the REV stations also serve as charging stations for electric cars with two sockets at each gable outside the container. The very first were installed last summer in Locquirec and Trébeurden on the north coast of Brittany, where the two young entrepreneurs are from. Having keys all over France, in particular with the Occitanie region, they plan to deploy 25 this year. “We are mainly targeting rural or tourist areas where mobility solutions are less developed than in town”, specifies Axel Yauch.
Several campsites and hotels have also shown interest in the stations of the two young Bretons, sold between 10,000 and 50,000 euros depending on the model. “This can allow them to offer their customers a bicycle rental service,” he points out. In the future, Station REV also plans to market a model for parking or renting a cargo bike, a mode of transport that is increasingly popular with families.