Ecox partnership debuts emergency e-bikes for Parisian doctors
by Bike Europe, October 6, 2020
Developers of the Emergency Bikes which made their debut in Paris, hope the concept will spread to other cities and countries. - Photo Wunderman Thompson Paris
PARIS, France – French e-bike retailer Ecox has partnered with WPP agency, Wunderman Thompson Paris, for the launch of Emergency Bikes, a new e-bike created to help Parisian emergency doctors move faster through the congested streets. Designed exclusively for doctor's needs, the first fleet of Emergency Bikes were deployed in early September.
As Paris is one of the most congested cities in Europe emergency doctors found themselves being stuck in traffic and response times were increasing. To combat this issue, Wunderman Thompson Paris concepted, developed, and partnered with Ecox to create a new solution: “the first urban proof medical vehicle, an electric bike designed by and for doctors.”
Emergency Bike specifications
The Emergency Bikes have been designed and tailor-made exclusively for doctors on emergency calls. The e-bikes have a large volume insulated box to carry medicine, they are built with an aluminium frame, and include other innovative technology such large anti-puncture tires, a GPS tracker which can be located in real time and a USB connection to connect any device.
Other key features of the compact sized e-bike include an optimised motor power (75 Nm), extended autonomy with dual 500 Nm battery to drive up to 160 km, reflective wheel bands to be seen in traffic, a 140 dB horn and long range LED signalling for emergency driving.
Wunderman Thompson Paris came up with the idea for Emergency Bikes after the wave of strikes in November 2019. They partnered with e-bike brand Ecox, which is owned by Yoann Bourrelier, one of the recently named new chairman of Mavic. Together they worked with the e-bike manufacturer Urban Arrow, part of Pon bike and UMP (Paris emergency services) doctors, to develop a requirement specification document to create the e-bike, design the e-bike and create the first prototype of the emergency e-bike.
“Faster than any other vehicle”
“Emergency Bikes are fast. They slide easily through heavy traffic, they park in limited spaces, and most importantly, they enable doctors to cross Paris with their medical material faster than any other vehicle, reaching every medical intervention site two times faster, on average,” said Adrien Mancel and Paul-Emile Raymond, Creative Directors at Wunderman Thompson Paris. “Our partnership with Ecox has been extremely rewarding and our hope is to develop a project where Emergency Bikes can be used in several emergency services across other cities and countries,” continued the creative directors.
“Emergency Bikes is our response to address the complex problems related to doctors moving around the city,” said Mathieu Froger, CEO of Ecox. “After the pandemic lockdown, Parisians won’t use public transport nearly as much. Many of them will use their cars instead and this will create even more traffic jams. Tomorrow more than ever, the medics will need Emergency Bikes.”