By Ronan Corcoran
Oct 19 (Reuters) – As protests rock France, the sight of electric bikes burning has become commonplace in the unrest.
In Paris, black smoke and flames rose over piles of the e-bikes at the weekend. Elsewhere in the city, a protester threw an e-bike onto a burning car.
Shared-mobility operator Dott said in a statement to Reuters on Monday that about 300 of its electric bikes were destroyed and 120 severely damaged in Paris during the nationwide protests on Saturday, which turned violent in several cities. It has 6,000 bikes in the city.
The company also said 80 vehicles, including bikes and scooters, were destroyed in Bordeaux and 30 to 40 scooters in Lyon. It estimated the damage at around €400,000 ($450,000).
Lime said some of its shared bicycles and scooters in Paris were destroyed or damaged during the protests, with the company losing about 6% of its Paris fleet.
Ahead of the demonstrations, Lime said it worked with police to remove vehicles from designated protest routes and restricted parking and riding in several high-risk areas, adjusting those measures over the weekend as the situation evolved.
Velib, whose bikes are docked, rather than parked on pavements, said in a report in Le Parisien newspaper that around 5% of its fleet of 18,000 e-bikes was destroyed or damaged at the weekend. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
E-bikes often use lithium-ion batteries, which can ignite and produce intense fires that spread rapidly and produce toxic smoke.
There was no indication that e-bike operators were specifically targeted during the protests over the cost of living and underfunded public services that have descended into riots and looting.
However, with thousands of bicycles available across Paris streets and docking stations, they proved readily accessible to protesters, with many used to build barricades or to set on fire.
(Reporting by Ronan Corcoran in Gdansk; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Alison Williams)
