French E-bike ‘van’ is eco answer for door-to-door deliveries

A commercial electric quad vehicle designed to make local deliveries more environmentally friendly is due to start factory production in 2026, just two years after The Connexion reported on an early prototype.

The Midipile, which can carry a 300kg load, is a hybrid of an electric bicycle and a covered vehicle. 

It is classified as a powered quad, placing it in the same category as a véhicule sans permis (a light, low-powered vehicle that can be driven without a traditional driving licence).

Its electric motor engages when the pedals are turned and provides a maximum legal speed of 45km/h. 

The 7.9kWh battery enables a loaded Midipile to travel 80km–100km before charging from either a standard wall socket or an electric vehicle socket.

Instead of using a steering wheel, which would have made positioning the pedals difficult, the vehicle is directed by two steering arms, similar to those on a tracked excavator.

It is slowed by back-pedalling as well as by brakes. The battery is replenished when the vehicle is moving and the pedals are not being turned forwards, or when the driver back-pedals.

The company was selected for €1.5million financing from a special fund set up by President Emmanuel Macron in 2023 to boost manufacturing in France by 2030.

“Getting the funding was very welcome because it came just after we set up our production line and will make the move to full production easier,” company founder Benoît Trouvé told The Connexion.

“Our objective is still to have these vehicles used for door-to-door deliveries in towns and cities all over the world. However, we have also had a lot of interest from engineers on large factory sites, and even hospitals where large vans are currently used to move loads around that could easily fit in our vehicles.”

In order to accommodate customers, some of whom have signed early orders, the company has developed two further load-carrying beds for the Midipile alongside the original model – a flat bed and a pick-up bed.

Prices are €15,500–€16,200 per vehicle, up from the €12,000 envisaged in 2023, due to the effects of inflation on raw materials and higher salary costs. 

This compares with the estimated €30,000 outlay for most new work vans. Running costs are around €2 per 100km, using 2025 electricity prices.

The company is based in the village of Hiersac near Angoulême (Charente).

Around 60 Midipiles are expected to be produced in 2026. Mr Trouvé said this figure could rise to around 200 by 2027.

A former engineer with Peugeot, who notably worked on the company’s now-abandoned diesel–electric hybrid motor, Mr Trouvé said the engineers who designed the Midipile were all bicycle fanatics.

“Bicycles are very efficient machines and, when coupled with an electric motor, provide a wonderfully efficient and cheap way of delivering goods without emitting any carbon dioxide,” he said.