just about to join in

[SRS]

Sorry,I don't get that more performance will make electric bikes appeal to all ages-if you look at the current situation in Holland and Germany,the biggest markets for ebikes outside of China-the ebikes in those countries are ridden by teenagers to grandparents to exactly the same performance levels as EN15194 is offering in the UK.
To be honest the UK has some unique requirements which is not required by anywhere else-we seem to be seeking cheap motorbikes rather than pedelec bicycles-hence the desire for throttles and power.
We seem to have a completely different attitude to city biking,whether it is ebike or sports bikes-sit in a pavement cafe in Holland and most riders are quite relaxed riders,the joy of cycling does not depend purely upon speed-in contrast the speed of bike riders around London these days is becoming a hazard for pedestrians. Why is everybody in such a hurry?
Dave
Kudoscycles

Make e-bikes a little trendy and zippy and the youngsters will buy them.

Worked for the motorbike industry, scooters designed to look sporty and appeal to the youngsters. Reasonably slow but the youngsters love them.

Same could happen with e-bikes.

As far as other European countries, they seem to have very different ideas to us. For a start
they are all very much family orientated. Maybe this has something to do with shared cycles/ cycling.

I agree, manic riding around town makes no sense to me. The world is however running a full pace for a lot of people.

Lastly, throttles. Only reason I can see for these and I speak from experience is they can allow much greater fuel economy.

I get around 25, 30% more miles on throttle over pedelec.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Make e-bikes a little trendy and zippy and the youngsters will buy them.

Worked for the motorbike industry, scooters designed to look sporty and appeal to the youngsters. Reasonably slow but the youngsters love them.

Same could happen with e-bikes.

As far as other European countries, they seem to have very different ideas to us. For a start
they are all very much family orientated. Maybe this has something to do with shared cycles/ cycling.

I agree, manic riding around town makes no sense to me. The world is however running a full pace for a lot of people.

Lastly, throttles. Only reason I can see for these and I speak from experience is they can allow much greater fuel economy.

I get around 25, 30% more miles on throttle over pedelec.

SRS....well thought out answer. It is not only youngsters who want their ebikes to look sexier,perhaps we are all young at heart-all the future Kudos bikes will be lighter,faster and more sporty in appearance for that is what the market wants but it seems at odds with the spirit of easy riding.
I was recently staying up near Canary Wharf for the London Excel show,I must say the speed of some of these light sports cycles is impressive,even on a foul weather night-they must have some nasty crashes at times.
I am surprised that you get better economy with throttle usage-my advice to customers is that throttle use without pedalling will normally cut the range by 30%,after all you must use more power from the battery if you are not inputing power yourself.
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[SRS]

SRS....well thought out answer. It is not only youngsters who want their ebikes to look sexier,perhaps we are all young at heart-all the future Kudos bikes will be lighter,faster and more sporty in appearance for that is what the market wants but it seems at odds with the spirit of easy riding.
I was recently staying up near Canary Wharf for the London Excel show,I must say the speed of some of these light sports cycles is impressive,even on a foul weather night-they must have some nasty crashes at times.
I am surprised that you get better economy with throttle usage-my advice to customers is that throttle use without pedalling will normally cut the range by 30%,after all you must use more power from the battery if you are not inputing power yourself.
Dave
Kudoscycles

Think the youngsters call it street cred and of course we are all young at heart!

Good to hear that you are looking at the trendy aspect, I think any manufacturer ignores this aspect at their peril.

You are right, using throttle only would use much more power.

I have no interest in using it like a moped, I have always pedalled fairly hard. Add in a small amount of throttle when i get to 10,12mph.
Enables me to cycle fairly normally but top up the speed by a few miles per hour.

Bit of a game, keep one eye on the speedo and see how little throttle I can use to maintain my desired speed. Really does save on the power.

The above not being possible on my pedelec. Pedelec gives me power even when I don't want it.

 

[flecc]

Flecc

Annoyingly, what you have said makes total sense.

However if e-bikes are to appeal to all ages, then bikes with higher performance will be required. Not talking of 50mph. 20, maybe 25mph.

It is to the benefit of society in general if people can be moved away from cars and onto clean sustainable modes of transport.

By restricting performance, just in case some could not cope with a little more is counter productive.

I'd suggest we give people the option, if this entails some sort of proficiency test then so be it.
Any suggestion from anyone that these bikes are mostly for invalids or people who need assistance is wrong.

Some choose to arrive at work, non sweaty. Some choose, hopefully to get there faster and for others riding these things can just be a matter of interest in electrically powered vehicles.

Personally, I choose to ride electric because of a general interest and at the moment it is not the norm. I do not like to be classed as "normal"

What you want is available since the legislators have made the necessary provisions, but for the safety reasons that I explained, some testing and additional requirements are necessary. For example:

For those who require much higher power to cope with their more severe physical limitations on hills etc there is the Low Powered Moped class which is specifically for higher power bicycle based vehicles. This is still restricted to 15.5 mph but allows independent throttles and a 1000 watts rating which would handle any hill. Because of the power and possible high weight, registration, a moped licence and insurance are needed to ensure proficiency and public protection.

For those who require higher speed, the S class e-bikes are available, these assisting at up to 28 mph according to model. They can also have up to 500 watts rating, though for range reasons most makers settle on 350 watts. Once again the same registration, licence and insurance are necessary for obvious reasons, and of course they cannot be used on cyclepaths, bridleways and shared use paths where pedestrians could be present on any of them. These bikes are already sold in the uk complete with a rear number plate bracket, and their EN15194 certification automatically means they can be registered at the DVLA without any difficulty.

For over 30 mph and over 1000 watts, there are all the usual motor vehicle classes, so you can see that everyone has been catered for over many years now. The EU is currently refining some of these low power and speed classes to increase further the options.
.

 

[SRS]

What you want is available since the legislators have made the necessary provisions, but for the safety reasons that I explained, some testing and additional requirements are necessary. For example:

For those who require much higher power to cope with their more severe physical limitations on hills etc there is the Low Powered Moped class which is specifically for higher power bicycle based vehicles. This is still restricted to 15.5 mph but allows independent throttles and a 1000 watts rating which would handle any hill. Because of the power and possible high weight, registration, a moped licence and insurance are needed to ensure proficiency and public protection.

For those who require higher speed, the S class e-bikes are available, these assisting at up to 28 mph according to model. They can also have up to 500 watts rating, though for range reasons most makers settle on 350 watts. Once again the same registration, licence and insurance are necessary for obvious reasons, and of course they cannot be used on cyclepaths, bridleways and shared use paths where pedestrians could be present on any of them. These bikes are already sold in the uk complete with a rear number plate bracket, and their EN15194 certification automatically means they can be registered at the DVLA without any difficulty.

For over 30 mph and over 1000 watts, there are all the usual motor vehicle classes, so you can see that everyone has been catered for over many years now. The EU is currently refining some of these low power and speed classes to increase further the options.
.

The 'S" class sounds just the job to blast to work. I assume that this is road only under power.

If I need to jump into a cycle path, I could presumably switch off the power and use it as a pedal cycle?

Few questions:

1: What size is the requried registation plate? I imagine something around credit card dimensions.

2: Which companies offer insurance for these in the UK?

3: Any idea of the typical cost of insurance?

Any addtional requirements such as non cycle type lights, indicators, brake lights etc?