Legal Requirements for Electric Bikes in the UK

[OldPedaller]

The last monthly magazine of the UK motor home club that I belong to published a rather scaremongering item about electric bikes. Essentially, it was a copy of an item from Motor Cycle News where someone who was involved in an accident was to be prosecuted for having an an illegal spec electric bike.

So I want to send them a myth buster response, because there's no doubt that the original item would put people off buying. Below is my attempt at listing the key requirements based on research around the various sites. If anyone, especially the dealers, spots any errors or misinterpretations in this piece, please let me know.

I did search for a Fact Sheet from the DoT that I'd seen mentioned, but didn't find it. So again if anyone has a working link to that, I'd be grateful.

Here's my summary piece:
"1. The rider must be aged at least 14
2. The electric bike must not be capable of exceeding 15 mph while under power
Of course, you can ride as fast as you like when the motor is not providing assistance, for instance when freewheeling downhill, but you must still obey traffic laws. Most electric bikes are configured so that the power automatically reduces as speed increases and will cut out completely once a speed of 15 mph has been reached. Not only does this help comply with the law, it makes sense to reduce any unnecessary use of the battery.
3. The electric bike must not weigh in excess of 40kg for a bicycle, or 60kg for a tricycle
4. The continuous rated power of the motor must not exceed 200 or 250 watts
In general, the limits are 200 watts for a bicycle and 250 watts for a tricycle or tandem. There have been different interpretations of this requirement. For example, the European limit for bicycles is 250 Watts. As a member of the EU, this limit should apply to the UK also. However, the older 1983 UK legislation is 200 watts for bicycles. So, as in any decision you make based on an interpretation of the law, it’s usually better to play safe and work on the 200 watt limit for a bicycle.
5. The motor alone cannot be used to propel the bicycle, so power can only be brought in while the rider is pedalling
Again, with this requirement there is some disparity between the 1983 UK legislation and the 2002 European rules and you should err on the side of safety. This time, it’s the European law that is the more restrictive and doesn’t allow the cycle to be propelled using power only. In reality, this requirement is met as long as the pedals are rotated (no matter how gently you pedal or how little physical effort you put into those rotations). The UK’s Construction and Use Regulations on this aspect state that the power assistance must default to Off – meaning that some minimum pedalling intervention from the rider is needed in order to maintain power assistance."

 

[TwoBikes]

It's important to understand that the 2002 regulations that you refer to are not regulations for electric bicycles. They are regulations for the type approval of motorcycles. The only mention of electric bicycles in the 2002 regulations is in the definitions section, where they exempt vehicles with (amongst other things) a motor of 250W or below. There are no "European regulations" setting out what electric bicycles can and can't do: this is left up to the individual member countries to decide. "European regulations" may be introduced in the future, but there are none yet. (Don't be confused by reference to an EN standard - this is not mandatory until made so by a regulation or law.) So, there is no confusion about whether 250W motors are allowed on bicycles in the UK: they are not. The 1983 UK regulations give 200W as the maximum motor power, and there is no EU regulation that permits a higher power. That is why owners are getting grief from the authorities when they have been involved in an incident and their bicycle is found to have a 250W motor.

 

[TwoBikes]

the European law that is the more restrictive and doesn’t allow the cycle to be propelled using power only.

To reiterate, there is no such European law. The 2002 EU regulations have nothing to say about whether cycles are allowed to be propelled using power only, only that, if they are, they must then be submitted for type approval (by the manufacturer) or for single vehicle approval (by an individual owner). I think people in the UK look at electric bikes in, say the Netherlands, see that they don't have throttles, and assume that it is a European law that is preventing that. In fact, it is the country's own laws that are saying what electric bikes can and can't have in that country. For now, anyway.

 

[flecc]

Although that might appear cast iron TwoBikes, members will be hearing from BEBA shortly and it's expected that 250 watts will be approved, despite the current state of the law.

The type approval regulations are not irrelevant in the sense that they exempt an EU legal pedelec from type approval, but type approval is required for any motor vehicle. This leads to a conflict position with EAPC and the RTAs, the one which is currently being resolved and in which I am involved.

 

[RoadieRoger]

I`m not sure about Item 5 Old Pedaller . My Batribike has a throttle which is capable of propelling me without pedalling .I can also walk along side using the throttle on the 6 km/hr setting on very steep hills to avoid giving the battery too much of a `pasting` . As a test next time I am out, I will take my Holux GPS and check my maximum sustainable speed on the flat , throttle only .

 

[TwoBikes]

Maybe that's the future flecc - next week for all I know. What I am describing is the situation today.

I don't understand why you say that type approval is required for any motor vehicle. The whole point is that it is not required for certain motor vehicles - ones with a motor of 250W or below, that engage power only when pedalled, and that taper off the assistance to zero as it reaches 25km/h. This is what the much-touted "2002 EU regulations" say - but it is all that they have to say on electric cycles.

In another place on this site I state clearly that I am not an engineer. What I am is an expert on standards and regulations. I used to draft them (someone has to) before I moved off in search of greater riches.

The biggest mistake the UK government ever made regarding the 2002 motorcycle type approval regulations was to agree that horrid definition of which vehicles are exempt. The UK should have insisted on a simple exemption for any vehicle not capable of more than 25km/h. They knew they'd created problems - it took them until 2006 to actually incorporate the regulations into UK law.

 

[TwoBikes]

I think Old Pedaller's interpretation of the regulations about defaulting to off might indeed mean that if you have a PAS device fitted you must keep pedalling for the motor to be engaged. I hadn't thought of that - I will have to read the regulations closely again. However, there is no requirement in any UK regulations that require a PAS device to be fitted. You are free to have a throttle only - but then the throttle must default to off.

 

[flecc]

By any motor vehicle, I mean of course one subject to motor vehicle laws and without the exemption that 2002/EC/24 provides.

I agree about the mistake and it's been a nuisance ever since. However, as you know I've always maintained that the type approval regulation is relevant in the manner I described, since where there is a conflict, parliament's later provisions usually stand. Clearly the type approval regulations and the early EAPC are in conflict.

But as said, we are only days away from some resolution which I'm confident will see tacit approval for 250 watts. There may be implications for throttles in that of course, but I'll wait for the final decision.

 

[OldPedaller]

Legal Requirements

I think Old Pedaller's interpretation of the regulations about defaulting to off might indeed mean that if you have a PAS device fitted you must keep pedalling for the motor to be engaged. I hadn't thought of that - I will have to read the regulations closely again. However, there is no requirement in any UK regulations that require a PAS device to be fitted. You are free to have a throttle only - but then the throttle must default to off.

Thanks for the responses.

Here's what I think incorporates what you've said. Item 5 - long winded as it is - is the shortest summary I can come up with on the tricky issue of power-only propulsion. Please feel free to improve on my efforts.
"1. The rider must be aged at least 14
2. The electric bike must not be capable of exceeding 15 mph while under power assistance
Of course, you can ride as fast as you like when the motor is not providing assistance, for instance when freewheeling downhill, but you must still obey traffic laws. Most electric bikes are configured so that the power automatically reduces as speed increases and will cut out completely once a speed of 15 mph has been reached. Not only does this help comply with the law, it makes sense to reduce any unnecessary use of the battery.
3. The electric bike must not weigh in excess of 40kg for a bicycle, or 60kg for a tricycle
4. The continuous rated power of the motor must not exceed 200 or 250 watts
Currently, the UK limits are 200 watts for a bicycle and 250 watts for a tricycle or tandem. It’s possible that the 200 watt limit might be increased in the future.
5. The electric bike must be fitted with pedals that can be used to propel it.
Although the simple rule above is clear enough, the rules on whether an electric bike can be propelled solely by its electric motor power are far less clear. The Department of Transport advises that an electric bike should not be capable of providing power assistance without some level of pedalling from the rider. If it does, they say that it is a motor vehicle, and therefore requires tax, insurance, license, and safety helmet. However, they then go on to say that the appropriate authorities are unlikely to prevent the sale of such a bike.
The UK’s Construction and Use Regulations on this subject state that the power assistance must default to Off, which would mean that some minimum pedalling intervention from the rider is needed in order to maintain power assistance.
It does seem, then, that the best course would be to avoid using an electric bike on the road if it’s capable of propelling you without any pedalling action on your part, no matter how little."

Here's the relevant part of the DfT fact sheet that I did eventually manage to find:
"A vehicle is not exempt from ECWVTA or MSVA if it is fitted with pedals and a motor that can provide power assistance at any time without the rider pedalling (see also section 3 below).
However, if such vehicle (i.e. one which is able to provide power assistance without the rider pedalling) is an EAPC, our understanding is that the appropriate authorities (i.e. Trading Standards) are unlikely to take action to prevent the sale of these vehicles simply on the ground that they have neither a CoC or MAC."

The relevant part of Section 3 is: "Any vehicle outside the scope of The Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles Regulations 1983 due to the motor power output, speed up to which power can be provided, weight, or that do not have pedals by means of which the machine can be propelled, are considered to be motor vehicles. They will need to be registered, licensed and taxed, insured and the rider will need an appropriate driving licence and wear a motorcycle safety helmet."

 

[flecc]

It's the power output in that last paragraph that's in contention currently, due to the effects of other later law. In additiion, the European parliament has recommended to the EU commission that all power limits should be removed.

This is something I've long campaigned for, the power necessary for a vehicle being the province of the designer and emphatically not a matter for legislators. Speed limiting is their proper area in this subject, and that is all that is necessary.

 

[RoadieRoger]

Checked the Batribike on throttle only and it was 12-13 mph .