We seem to be having one of our scare stories in the UK again, that demonises E-Bikes that are a bit too fast.
http://www.bike-eu.com/Laws-Regulations/Regulations/2014/10/Speed-Tuning-Kits-Threaten-E-Bike-Market-Development-1630453W/
Didn't we do this 5 years ago? And has UK gov yet officially synced UK law with the EU? Is there an official testing method yet to prove
compliance? Has anyone been successfully prosecuted for using an
illegally powerful electric assist bicycle on the road?
My own views are very simple.
If it looks like a bicycle doing bicycle type things, nobody will ever
notice or care. Even if (and I hope you don't) you have an accident
doing them.
I don't especially want commercially available E-bicycles that do 25mph with 1kW of power without a licensing regime to go with it. However a 15mph power cut off does feel a little low in some circumstances as does 250/200W. The problem is that unlicensed use has to include a pensioner in heavy traffic doing the shopping as well as a downhill enthusiast.
What I really would like though is some mechanism whereby light electric motorcycles, trikes and quads can be road registered and especially for home builts. I'm not entirely sure what form this should take. So let's have a debate about that, rather than demonising E-Bikes that are a bit too fast.
Speed Tuning Kits Threaten E-Bike Market Development
Seriously though, I'm buying a US 20mph Bosch bike to aid with distance, but since I already ride about 20mph, it would be nice to capitalize on a speed increase over the vast unpopulated stretches of my commute. A 15mph limit would IMHO render the bike useless except in very hilly, densely populated cities.
I hope to de-restrict mine at some point. It just seems arbitrary--if it meant licensing it as a motor vehicle I wouldn't have a major problem with that.
The technology is so far ahead of the law it's silly. My only concern is whether Bosch could or would void warranties over it. The motor's covered for 2 years, so I'll probably start looking into the tuning kits cited in the article around then. They are VERY expensive at present.
Given that a number of vendors already sell Federally "illegal" >20 mph bikes, I think it will be interesting to see how legislation and bike manufacturers deal with a 20 mph cutout in the future. I hope it goes away altogether. Let speed concerns be enforced based on local speed limits, which can be measured and enforced by local law enforcement, and set on specific local zones where such limits make sense based on path/trail conditions. Don't restrict the bikes capability.
This would be like a Federally mandated automotive speed governor set at 55 mph - how do you think drivers and automobile manufactures would react? ;)
I really, really think you need states wide, federal regs on this and we probably need global regulation agreement. Mainly because the marketing volumes will bring down prices. It also avoids the craziness of things like NYC banning all electric bikes because a few people abuse the laws with what are actually electric mopeds/scooters.
As for the Bosch system. Where's the speed sensor? If it's a wheel sensor, what happens if you just cut the wire? Or fit a larger front sprocket?
Gearing is bicycle like - spins out in the mid 30 mph range. My goal is just to raise / eliminate the 20mph cutoff, since on level ground I typically ride faster than that without any assist. It would be nice if the assist could bump my cruising speed up toward 30mph on level ground, since most of my commute is desolate. That could save me an hour or more, plus wear and tear on my knees.
There's a busy section of my commute where the speed limit is posted 15mph (and enforced), and I have no issues with that. It makes sense to set a speed limit where multiuse paths are busy. Some city's do that city wide, which I think is ridiculous, as is the clause in Colorado's statutes that affords ebikes use of bike paths, provided they are turned off.
There is already Federal legislation that defines ebikes as <750 watts, and incapable of propelling a rider over 20mph without rider input.
I have mine restricted to 20mph for efficiency. That's the optimum pedaling speed for me in top gear. Cutting out lower would mean I'd have to put that last 5mph in unassisted, but I would still get to that speed in the appropriate road stretches.
Hopefully they'll keep this vague, and encourage UK traffic cops to concentrate on real road safety issues, unless one of those HPC revolution 5500's in the post above, wheelspin off the traffic lights and pop a wheelie. Then, if they can catch them, by all means, add unrestricted motor to the charges.
The 1982 law that has never actually been enforced and doesn't apply unless the vehicle is registered with DVLA? Any police officer trying to prosecute that case would be in trouble with the inspector, and the case would be dropped.
The EU legislation has 750w as a maximum, but this legislation has not yet been ratified into UK law. If it's pedal assist, you are a bike to them, unless you leave them standing at the lights!
The reality is as you'd expect. If you are behaving normally in traffic, the only point in pulling you over would be curiosity. If you are tearing round the park causing a hazard, there's all kinds of laws they could use, from wreckless endangerment, to that 1895 law about young dandies riding their carriages too fast. They certainly don't need more legislation for this, and as I've pointed out, they can't get to grips with the legislation that's already there.
It doesn't seem like there's any EU wide (or UK) standard procedure for actually measuring output power or the power cut off. It also seems that there are plenty of nominally legal bikes that produce 350W to 500W for short bursts around 10mph and with a cut off of 18mph or so on a full battery. All on the basis that's it "more or less within +/-10%".
I should have mentioned mine's a trike, which along with tandems can go to 750w
The motors are not illegal. Using one on public roads may be, so there's no problem stocking them. People stock crack pipes! Doesn't mean they advocate smoking crack with them.
They could be for off road or industrial use. There may be problems with bike shops doing conversions on road bikes, but even then, if they are clear about what they are selling and do not endorse it for road use, what crime have they committed?
IMO, the law has been completely surpassed by the technology. My LCD console allows me to set the assist level at 200w, and have the assist cut out at 20kph. That makes it complant, but this was not an option when the legislation was drafted.
The legislation is itself arbitrary, and the optimum settings for different bikes and riders will differ greatly in reality. We don't legislate on engine capacity and speed restrictions in cars. We enforce the speed limits and the rules of the road, as we should with bikes, power assisted or not.
I think that is correct, in that I don't think 5kW bicycles that do 50mph should be mixing it with traffic or shared bicycle paths completely unregulated. While 250w-15mph is perhaps just a little low. Somewhere in the middle is a happy medium.
But then what we have at the moment kind of works and nobody is looking at us. So we should probably just keep our heads down in the hope nobody will notice.
What I would like to see longer term is an extension of Single Vehicle Type Approval that make it possible to build and run things like Electric Velomobiles as a light car. There's a solo utility vehicle in there somewhere that does that 5KW-50mph (ish).
BTW. https://www.gov.uk/electric-bike-rules Tandems and Trikes, 250w not 750w. Was that a typo?