BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Boris bikes will go – partially – electric next year when several hundred will be boosted with a power-assist mode in a pilot schemed funded out of the London Mayor’s £913m cycling fund.
The power-assisted Boris bikes will be available in hilly areas of London, reports the Evening Standard.
Docking stations will double as electric charging points for the bicycles.
Boris Johnson said: “E-bikes are already big on the continent as they take the puff and pant out of cycling. Once again, London leads the way in Britain with new cycling innovations — and the elevated latitudes of Haringey are perfect for this trial.”
Haringey council leader Claire Kober said: “We’re really excited to be Britain’s first e-bikes borough."
Boris bike sponsors Barclays are said to have been given first refusal as backer of the e-bikes.
In other ‘Boris bike’ news, Barclays, sponsor of Barclays Cycle Hire in London, has donated the branding space on the front of selected cycles to CSV, the national volunteering and learning charity.
This is to promote the ‘Make a Difference– Get Inspired!’ campaign to raise awareness of volunteering and its positive impact in local communities.
Ashok Vaswani, CEO Barclays Retail and Business Banking, said: “Make a Difference– Get Inspired! is the flagship volunteering campaign which we have supported for 13 years. It promotes and celebrates volunteering and how contributing time and skills to a variety of causes benefits the community as a whole. That’s why we’re delighted to be able to use our sponsorship of Barclays Cycle Hire to support such a valuable initiative.”
The Barclays donation of space was launched outside parliament by music industry veteran Pete Waterman.
