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Rickard Bröms explains why we all need to look at Paris to reach car-free cities
How do we reach car-free cities? Entrepreneur Rickard Bröms is the owner and co-founder of Swedish micromobility brand Vässla, offering e-bikes on subscription. He states that to get there, the climate issue has to be taken seriously.
By JOHAN MAGNUSSON
21 Oct 2022

The transport sector, Bröms explains, is the only sector that has not reduced its emissions in the last 20 years.

— Paris is a great example of how it is changing. Many should learn from them, as many already are adapting to the changes that are happening. If you ask me, it’s not a distant dream, it’s all happening as we speak. 

Can you explain how it’s going to happen?

— 80 per cent of all trips with cars are under 25 km, and a majority take place in urban environments in connection with commuting. Therefore, micromobility becomes far more important than the electrification of cars. If we can find a solution for short journeys, we will solve many of the cities’ problems, such as environmental problems, congestion, noise, and other particle emissions. In addition, no new technology or charging infrastructure is required. So using a small vehicle for a short trip is a very simple solution to an extremely complex problem. My vision is to:

— Convert car lanes to bike lanes — both in the inner city and above all at all entrances.
— Making entire cities car-free.
— Remove 80 per cent of all parking in the inner cities.
— Introduce smart solutions so that one can carry the bicycle on the subway or commuter train.

Doesn’t this vision come from the fact that you simply want more people to buy your e-bikes?

— Of course, we would love for all people to use Vässla. But what we want to achieve is something greater than just using our products. People need to change their behaviour regarding short-distance travel due to several reasons — congestion and environmental challenges being the greatest ones. Our mission is completed if we convince people around the world to change short trips with cars to fun trips with small electric vehicles.

You mentioned Paris. How’s the current development when it comes to cars in the Nordics and Europe?

— Most large cities adapt to this new reality with Paris being the front runner. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, is reducing the number of car parking by 70.000 spaces. She has transformed Rue the Rivoli from being a five-lane car street into becoming a bike and pedestrian area. The same is to happen to the Champs Elysées. By 2024, the entire city centre will be car-free. We’re in the perfect storm right now. For e-bike adoption and city development, we see great development It’s all happening right now. We passed 5 million e-bikes sold in the EU last year. It’s expected to be at 50 million units in five years. Subscription is expected to be the greatest driver in this large transformation. By then, the e-bike market will have outgrown the e-car market.

Through the monthly subscription service Vässla Club, the startup offers a €3000 e-bike that everyone can afford, including maintenance and insurance. 

— It’s not a sharing service, it’s an ownership service, Bröms explains. We just launched Vässla Pedal that anyone can ride thanks to its unisex frame and 24-inch tires. It is developed with state-of-the-art IoT connectivity, GPS-based theft protection, as well as a swappable battery with 100 km of range, says Bröms.

Vässla Pedal.

Key takeaways:

— The transport sector is the only sector that has not reduced its emissions in the last 20 years.

— 80 per cent of all trips with cars are under 25 km.

— We passed 5 million e-bikes sold in the EU last year — it’s expected to be at 50 million units in five years. By then, the e-bike market will have outgrown the e-car market.

— The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, is reducing the number of car parking by 70.000 spaces. She has transformed Rue the Rivoli from being a five-lane car street into becoming a bike and pedestrian area. The same is to happen to the Champs Elysées. By 2024, the entire city centre will be car-free.