Ecobike: Driving the development of sustainable mobility

A key player in urban mobility in Girona, Catalonia and across Spain is EcoBike. For more than fifteen years, the Girona-based company has been active in the electric bicycle sector, not only making its mark on the market, but also contributing to the infrastructure that supports urban cycling and sustainable mobility.

At the helm is Marc Sabria, who has seen how urban mobility has evolved this century, following developments across Europe closely. “Through trade fairs, we could see where we were heading,” Sabria recalls. “It was clear that electric bicycles would not only be used by older people for weekend excursions, which is fantastic, but that, once the infrastructure was finally put in place by local councils and even the Generalitat, cycling within cities would increase and more people would start using bicycles for their everyday journeys. That is exactly what has happened.”

According to Sabria, who leads EcoBike’s work in sustainable mobility, Barcelona has always been a leading city in southern Europe when it comes to cycling, with an impressive bike-sharing system that works efficiently. But the Catalan capital has also set the tone when it comes to cycling infrastructure.

Projects

“Investments in infrastructure, such as the famous greenways, or here in Girona, where the main entrances to the city have their own cycle lanes and give priority to bicycles over cars, are clearly measures that encourage people to use electric bicycles for their daily journeys,” Sabria says. “If this were implemented across Catalonia, not only in the way it has been implemented in Girona or even Barcelona, I am sure it would be a huge success.”

“The easier it is, the more people will choose bicycles to get into cities and go about their daily business,” Sabria believes. “And electric bikes make cycling easier.”

EcoBike sells directly to end customers as well as to retailers and bicycle shops. The company also works on projects with public institutions and private companies. Sabria gives several examples: “We have supplied bicycles to various Ports of the Generalitat, which are used by their staff. We are also involved in new projects being developed by local councils, where they are installing smart bicycle parking facilities and making electric bicycles available for users to rent, whether they are local residents or tourists. We equip bicycle fleets for companies, with telemetry, GPS systems and mobility software. We collaborate with companies that design and manufacture bicycle parking facilities in Spain.”

When a bicycle battery reaches the end of its useful life, we reuse the existing casing and build a new battery inside it. In this way, we also contribute to the circular economy by reusing components that would otherwise be discarded.

Workshop

In Girona, EcoBike has its own workshop. “It is a multi-brand workshop where we provide servicing for different brands, and we specialise in electric systems,” says Sabria. The company is also an authorised DGT point for scooter registration. “We can solve problems with virtually any electric system, rebuild batteries and manufacture and sell batteries ourselves.” EcoBike’s workshop is an official service centre for Bafang, Panasonic, Ananda and Bosch electric systems.

EcoBike also receives strong customer reviews for its technical expertise, battery solutions and service. The summary of the comments made by users online highlights their experience with electrical systems, as well as their specialised battery services and, above all, their customer service!

“When it comes to bicycles, we manufacture models that could be used by any everyday cyclist. We do not manufacture technical or highly specialised bikes. However, we have a very broad portfolio. We work with Bafang, Ananda and Panasonic motors, among others. We cover everything from leisure and city bikes, which could be used in any seaside town or around Lake Banyoles, to trekking bikes, SUV bikes and mountain bikes, with high torque levels of up to 130 Nm and battery capacities of up to 1080 Wh. Depending on the model and conditions, some of our bikes can offer ranges of up to 200 kilometres.”

It is clear that EcoBike is an established company contributing to the development of sustainable mobility in Catalonia. As cycling infrastructure continues to grow across the region, the role of companies such as EcoBike will become increasingly important.