Bicing to move to 100% electric fleet by summer 2027

The fleet of Barcelona's bike sharing scheme, Bicing, will go 100% electric by next summer. 

Some 400 new bicycles will be added to the reserve fleet to increase availability and responsiveness during periods when bikes are undergoing maintenance, experiencing technical issues, or during times of high demand.

The planned improvements come with an investment of €5.8 million, a significant portion of which is dedicated to the electrification of the entire fleet.

The plan, however, also includes more maintenance teams and logistics personnel, and provides for the renewal of batteries and brakes, as well as covering the acquisition and replacement of 2,000 batteries.

According to municipal data, Bicing is projected to reach 20.5 million trips in 2026, an all-time record for the service.

On weekdays, electric bikes are used an average of 16 times each.

The joint venture UTE Pedalem Barcelona, comprising CESPA-Serveo and the Canadian firm PBSC, won the Bicing contract in 2019.

It began with 7,000 bikes, only 300 of which were electric, while now there are 8,000, the majority of which (5,000) are electric.

Fine for service failures

Barcelona City Council has fined the management company of Bicing, UTE Pedalem, €150,000 for service failures.

According to El País, this relates to ongoing issues with the service, such as problems with batteries, the mobile app, a lack of maintenance, or brake malfunctions.

The newspaper reports that the municipal authorities penalized the concessionaire for "failing to meet commitments regarding availability or the speed of maintenance" for the bicycles.