Full Throttle ebike legal again!

[TheBag]

Trouble is this method is not Type Approval, it's SVA, Single Vehicle Approval, each one tested and separately certified and documented.

Ahh, I assumed the certificate in the screenshot above was a type approval and not SVA.

So just to make things clear, if you get a type approval, it essentially registers the vehicle as a motorbike subjecting it to tax, registration and insurance requirements but if you do a single vehicle approval, it allows you to continue as if it were a regular pedelec but makes using a full twist and go throttle (without pedalling) legal?

 

[TheBag]

We charge £199.00 plus the £55.00 test fee for an open throttle. This cover the changes we need to make to the programming, keep the Warranty at 2 years and do all the running around to get the bike Type Approved, this currently involves a member of staff taking each bike from Sevenoaks Kent down to Southampton for testing.

Do you have a recommendation for one of your bikes to get an SVA for my situation? (riding 1.1 miles each way to the station almost completely uphill on the way back).

 

[TheBag]

Any bike that has a throttle and is certified by an independent testing house can be Type Approved to have a full working throttle. The bigger questions are 1. Does the supplier want all the hassle of going through the TA process. 2. Will the bike work well with a full throttle?

Normally we void the warranty if the throttle is opened or if the bike is changed from factory settings. An open throttle puts a lot mots pressure on the wiring, connections and other electronic and mechanical parts.

We charge £199.00 plus the £55.00 test fee for an open throttle. This cover the changes we need to make to the programming, keep the Warranty at 2 years and do all the running around to get the bike Type Approved, this currently involves a member of staff taking each bike from Sevenoaks Kent down to Southampton for testing.

All the best, David

Do you have any bikes that you recommend to have an open throttle for my situation? (riding 1.1 miles each way to the station, almost completely uphill on the way back)

 

[flecc]

Ahh, I assumed the certificate in the screenshot above was a type approval and not SVA.

So just to make things clear, if you get a type approval, it essentially registers the vehicle as a motorbike subjecting it to tax, registration and insurance requirements but if you do a single vehicle approval, it allows you to continue as if it were a regular pedelec but makes using a full twist and go throttle (without pedalling) legal?

That's it exactly, it's because the type approval regulations are motor vehicle law, with a specific exemption for compliant pedelecs.

This SVA arrangement to allow throttles is unique to Great Britain, the DfT allowing it here to meet this uniquely British demand. It doesn't seem to worry the continentals, probably because they never had them in the first instance.
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[TheBag]

That's it exactly, it's because the type approval regulations are motor vehicle law, with a specific exemption for compliant pedelecs.

This SVA arrangement to allow throttles is unique to Great Britain, the DfT allowing it here to meet this uniquely British demand. It doesn't seem to worry the continentals, probably because they never had them in the first instance.
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And just to clarify, even if you convert your regular bike to electric with a full throttle, you are required to obtain an SVA prior to it being road legal?

 

[flecc]

And just to clarify, even if you convert your regular bike to electric with a full throttle, you are required to obtain an SVA prior to it being road legal?

Yes, because the 6th April 2015 amendments to the 1983 EAPC regulations made fully acting throttles on pedelecs illegal to use unless the machine was type approved to L1e-A. This SVA permission by the DfT in lieu of type approval satisfies that requirement sufficiently.
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[sjpt]

Yes, because the 6th April 2015 amendments to the 1983 EAPC regulations made fully acting throttles on pedelecs illegal to use unless the machine was type approved to L1e-A. This SVA permission by the DfT in lieu of type approval satisfies that requirement sufficiently.
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I'm pretty sure I have seen exactly the opposite statement from Woosh, based on grandfather rights.

 

[Nealh]

Easiest option is to have a throttle that is activated by pedal first, as little as one crank rotation needed to jolly away with the throttle. Have the bike in low gear to to start with.

 

[TheBag]

Yes, because the 6th April 2015 amendments to the 1983 EAPC regulations made fully acting throttles on pedelecs illegal to use unless the machine was type approved to L1e-A. This SVA permission by the DfT in lieu of type approval satisfies that requirement sufficiently.
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Thanks for the clarification and for all your answers so far!

I'm pretty sure I have seen exactly the opposite statement from Woosh, based on grandfather rights.

As far as I know, the grandfather rights apply to bikes manufactured before 1st Jan 2016. From what I understand, anything after that date has been illegal to ride on the road with an open throttle without the single vehicle approval or type approval (which would subject it to the same requirements as a motorbike i.e. registration, tax, insurance.

Easiest option is to have a throttle that is activated by pedal first, as little as one crank rotation needed to jolly away with the throttle. Have the bike in low gear to to start with.

I may go down this road in the end, I just wanted the option of not having to pedal if possible - I can't imagine I'd realistically use it, but I like having options

 

[flecc]

I'm pretty sure I have seen exactly the opposite statement from Woosh, based on grandfather rights.

Those rights only apply to machines created before 1st January 2016. Following that type approval/SVA is needed as I've posted.

This is made clear in the 6th April 2015 amendments to the 1983 EAPC regulations.
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[sjpt]

Those rights only apply to machines created before 1st January 2016. Following that type approval/SVA is needed as I've posted.

This is made clear in the 6th April 2015 amendments to the 1983 EAPC regulations.
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Thanks. Just confirming ... The 'creation' is the creation of the original unpowered bike, and the date of conversion to electric is not relevant?

 

[BAH48]

That's it exactly, it's because the type approval regulations are motor vehicle law, with a specific exemption for compliant pedelecs.

This SVA arrangement to allow throttles is unique to Great Britain, the DfT allowing it here to meet this uniquely British demand. It doesn't seem to worry the continentals, probably because they never had them in the first instance.
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When I lived in Belgium from 97 to 02 there were lots of bikes with petrol motors, I even bought one for my wife who wasn't a strong cyclist. These bikes did in fact have a throttle and people did not seem to pedal much, if at all. So I would have thought a throttle on an electric bike would have been popular, but apparently not.

 

[sjpt]

Whether or not a bike can be powered by throttle alone seems pretty irrelevant (in common sense, not in law which is completely different) as long as there is an appropriate speed restriction for unregistered ones. 15.5 mph seems a sensible speed restriction to me; but maybe that is just because it suits our way of riding.

 

[flecc]

Thanks. Just confirming ... The 'creation' is the creation of the original unpowered bike, and the date of conversion to electric is not relevant?

The creation is when the motor is added, making it into a pedelec. If that is after 31st December 2015, it needs an SVA to have a throttle since it has no grandfather rights before that date as a pedelec.
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[flecc]

When I lived in Belgium from 97 to 02 there were lots of bikes with petrol motors, I even bought one for my wife who wasn't a strong cyclist. These bikes did in fact have a throttle and people did not seem to pedal much, if at all. So I would have thought a throttle on an electric bike would have been popular, but apparently not.

These were very popular in the UK in the 1950s, reaching over one million on the roads. Since they needed a motor cycle licence, registration, road tax, insurance etc., the arrival of Vespa and Lambretta scooters in the mid 1950s killed them off.
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[sjpt]

The creation is when the motor is added, making it into a pedelec. If that is after 31st December 2015, it needs an SVA to have a throttle since it has no grandfather rights before that date as a pedelec.
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Thank you very much, that makes a lot of sense and is the clearest statement on the matter I have seen.

 

[TheBag]

The creation is when the motor is added, making it into a pedelec. If that is after 31st December 2015, it needs an SVA to have a throttle since it has no grandfather rights before that date as a pedelec.
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In which case if your pre 2016 ebike had an issue and the motor needed replacing, it wouldn't need a new sva but if you moved the kit from your 2016 ebike to a brand new bike therefore converting it, it would need an SVA as that is when it was made into a pedelec.

It can therefore be inferred that if either the bike or the motor were manufactured post 2016 in a conversion scenario, it would need an SVA.

 

[flecc]

In which case if your pre 2016 ebike had an issue and the motor needed replacing, it wouldn't need a new sva but if you moved the kit from your 2016 ebike to a brand new bike therefore converting it, it would need an SVA as that is when it was made into a pedelec.

It can therefore be inferred that if either the bike or the motor were manufactured post 2016 in a conversion scenario, it would need an SVA.

Indeed. This brings up the proposition that one can completely renew an e-bike by replacing parts as repairs over time, eventually even the frame if and when it breaks!

Trigger's broom, if you remember "Only Fools and Horses".
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[Woosh]

let's first confirm that we are talking about the twist and go throttle here.
if one applies for an SVA for a factory built bike because of the addition of the twist and go throttle, granting is automatic after paying the £55 fees*, as long as the bike has not been further altered and a certificate of conformity is shown to the examiner.

One could argue that the examiner grants the SVA certificate purely on the basis of CoC.

Let's also imagine for a moment that another person added the same throttle to the same factory built without applying for the SVA and subsequently had an accident.

What makes the second bike less legal than the first one?
The SVA certificate?

*Low power moped (a moped with pedals, with auxiliary propulsion not exceeding 1kW and a maximum design speed not exceeding 25 km/h(16mph)

 

[Charliefox]

Well done to Wisper for keeping on top of the regulatory changes.

But it's worth pointing out that throttles - for many users - are not the benefit they think they are going to be.

Legal ebikes are not powerful enough to work very well on a throttle, and it's wearing - and deathly boring - sitting on a bike holding one open.

Pedalling helps control and balance and is not a hardship for most riders.

I take issue with the comment 'it's wearing - and deathly boring - sitting on a bike holding one open' since with full throttles at least, it is easy to just very gently pull the throttle sideways with thumb round the fixed part. This holds it in any position you want without that 'wearing bit'. And why this near universal belief that bikes with throttles are not peddled!! I never stop peddling when using my throttle on hills and against headwinds.