Riding an electric cargo bike legally in the UK

[green79]

First time poster here.

My family and I have an opportunity to move to Oxford for a couple of years and are looking a bring our cargo bike with us. I was looking for advice on how to ride it legally in the UK.

I have a Surly Big Dummy with a eZee conversion kit, Cycle Analyst V3 and a 36V 16.5Ah frame battery pack

Based on the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/electric-bike-rules

Would limiting the motor based on maximum speed and output using the Cycle Analyst be sufficient to make this legal to ride?
Would making my own plate showing the manufacturer, the nominal voltage of the battery, and the motor’s power output meet the requirement in the link?
Any idea whether it might qualify under the tandem/tricycle definition? I ask because I'm guessing the weight is around the maximum with the kids seats etc on it.
Any cargo bikers in Oxford and experience with a bakfiets / bullitt style bike there? We'll probably go car free so were thinking of a boxbike to supplement the big dummy? Not sure how a larger bike might fit in with narrower roads etc

Thanks in advance!

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You don't need to limit the power, but you need to limit the speed to 25 km/h. If the motor has a stamping on it that says any more than 250w, stick a 250w label over it. If it has a label that shows more than 250w, remove it.

 

[flecc]

No maker has ever fitted a plate even though they've been required since 1983, so there's no need to worry about that on your existing cargo bike.

You also don't need to worry about the weight, all the e-bike weight limits were removed by an amendment to the law that was effective from 5th April this year. Here's an extract:

These Regulations amend the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles Regulations 1983 which prescribe the class of electrically assisted pedal cycles treated as not being a motor vehicle within the meaning of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the Road Traffic Act 1988. The amendments made by these Regulations change the prescribed class of electrically assisted
pedal cycles in order to:

• permit such vehicles to have more than three wheels;

• remove any weight limits applicable to such vehicles;

• update the reference to the maximum “continuous rated output” to refer to “maximumcontinuous rated power” with the same meaning as in Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 (OJ No. L60, 2.3.2013, p.52) and enable “maximum continuous rated power” to be determined in a manner equivalent to that prescribed in the Regulation; and

• increase the maximum permitted power of the electric motor in electrically assisted bicycles (to 250 watts).

This change also includes an alteration in the details required on the plate to be affixed, but that only applies to new e-bikes from 5th April 2015.

The reason behind these changes was to conform to the EU laws.
.

 

[shemozzle999]

My family and I have an opportunity to move to Oxford for a couple of years and are looking a bring our cargo bike with us. I was looking for advice on how to ride it legally in the UK.

Would making my own plate showing the manufacturer, the nominal voltage of the battery, and the motor’s power output meet the requirement in the link?

The plate has always been a requirement in law.

It states the manufacturer as being the person who modified the bike, so you need to make a plate showing your name if you are doing the conversion the nominal voltage, motor power and if you have converted it after the 6th April 2015 the maximum assisted speed.

Without it you are breaking the law if you ride it on the road.

Any other advice regarding this is erroneous see below for the facts.

Link to original law:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1983/1176/pdfs/uksi_19831176_en.pdf

Link to amendment:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/474/pdfs/uksi_20150474_en.pdf

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi Green 79,

Welcome to the forum, I guess you coming from overseas?

We already have a few customers in Oxford, one of them has an eZee powered Yuba el Mundo that he uses amongst other things to take his kids to school so you don't need to worry about using your Surly conversion.

Yuba el Mundo​

Another customers eZee powered Big Dummy
​

eZee now have their own complete cargo/utility bike that was designed and manufactured 'in house', the Expedir which comes in two versions, the GTS and the LTS, they are available with host of accessories for different uses.

eZee Expedir LTS​

eZee Expedir GTS​

Also the eZee i-Omega mini cargo bike
​

 

[flecc]

Without it you are breaking the law if you ride it on the road.

Any other advice regarding this is erroneous see below for the facts.

Technically yes, but since no-one can point to a single case of the plating law being complied with by a maker/supplier over the 31 years it's been in force, hardly something to be concerned with.

It will be interesting to see if everyone or even anyone complies with the amendment in future, I rather doubt it. In fact it's already being ignored by all the importers and dealers selling existing stocks for which no waiver has been issued.
.

 

[shemozzle999]

It will be interesting to see if everyone or even anyone complies with the amendment in future, I rather doubt it.
.

Yes, time will tell who are the responsible dealers who care about their customers and those who do not.

 

[flecc]

Yes, time will tell who are the responsible dealers who care about their customers and those who do not.

I think that's rather harsh. Since the EAPC regulation is clearly a construction and use regulation, in fact if not in name, the liability for the plating rests with the manufacturer as requested by the importer. They after all are the only ones technically equipped to plate with the all correct information.

I see this as a rather petty matter and such evidence as exists shows the authorities seeing it as the same.

I know of just two attempted prosecutions of an e-bike rider in the UK, both on the power level and no mention of plating arising despite neither having plates. In the last case which I know of in detail, neither the police officer or his force mentioned it, presumably having not checked, neither did the DfT mention plating when overruling prosecution on the power level matter.

The only time the matter of plating arose was outside the UK in a Crown Dependency. In the Bailiwick of Guernsey they have a copy of the UK's EAPC regulations as their own law. A vindictive dealer selling 200 watts e-bikes conforming to that law complained to the authorities there that a rival dealer was selling and hiring 250 watt e-bikes without any plate, no doubt after attaching labels to those he was selling. A prosecution resulted in a fine for using e-bikes over 200 watts, but the plating matter was not prosecuted.

So the traffic department of a UK police force, the UK Department for Transport and the States of Guernsey Police Service don't consider plating a matter worth pursuing, clearly thinking it too petty.

I could only ever see plating arising when other laws were being broken, and on the evidence above, even then not being pursued. It follows that all complying with other laws really have no need to be concerned about having a plate.
.

 

[Cyclezee]

Once again Flecc imparts his considerable depth of knowledge on a subject

 

[shemozzle999]

I suggest any potential buyers study the trade likes given above as to whether or not you can purchase a bike from them that is legal to ride on the road.

 

[flecc]

I suggest any potential buyers study the trade likes given above as to whether or not you can purchase a bike from them that is legal to ride on the road.

I happily agree that an unlabelled e-bike is not legal, only observing that the omission is a petty matter like all the other numerous minor regulations we all break from time to time, often in complete ignorance of their existence.

For sixteen years from 1999 to 2015 the majority of e-bikes sold and used in the UK were illegally powered. Nothing was done about that more serious matter for the first fourteen years and even then only an informal waiver was issued to prevent a prosecution for breaking the law. So not exactly showing any willingness to prosecute.

Likewise for over 31 years all e-bikes sold and used in the UK had no legal plates fitted with no action taken and there's well over 100,000 e-bikes on the road without one.

Chance of action now on the latter petty matter is obviously nil.

Possibly the latest regulation will be complied with in due course, but since it's only an amendment rather than a new law, it may not even come to the notice of manufacturers. It is after all just a UK peculiarity.
.

 

[anotherkiwi]

A very good page (in French) about how to get a registration certificate in France for a s-pedelec. Just above the serial number of the frame is indicated the location of the statutory plate on the EU type conformity document. So at least the German manufacturers seem to be doing the right thing???

http://www.cyclable.com/blog/2014/02/20/immatriculation-dun-velo-rapide-45-kmh/

 

[flecc]

Not for the UK on legal pedelecs though Tony, Kalkhoff et al have never plated the bikes to conform to the UK law. They just carry the CE marking.
.

 

[Cyclezee]

I suggest any potential buyers study the trade likes given above as to whether or not you can purchase a bike from them that is legal to ride on the road.

How in any logical way is that relevant

 

[anotherkiwi]

Ok so they only do it on their bikes with mandatory type approval then? Saving several euro cents a bike (by leaving a plate off) will of course be big numbers when multiplied by tens of thousands of bikes sold.

Tony

 

[flecc]

I think the reason they don't do it for this UK requirement is probably the small size of our market Tony. We are a tiddler for e-bike sales compared to mainland Europe or it's main cycling countries.

With complete e-bikes they equally never tried to comply with the former 200 watts limit that applied in the UK until April 6th this year, just sending us illegal 250 watt bikes which we used anyway.

It was actually the Japanese who started the illegality by sending us non-compliant e-bikes from 1999 on. The only German presence back then were the Heinzmann kit motors which did conform since they were 200 watts for the UK.
.

 

[shemozzle999]

How in any logical way is that relevant

You appear to be confused by my posts - what don't you understand - how can I help you?

 

[Cyclezee]

You appear to be confused by my posts - what don't you understand - how can I help you?

You appear to be insinuating that because trade members liked Flecc's post that they are selling illegal bikes.

 

[shemozzle999]

No, from what I understand from Flecc's post is that he has implied that no dealer is applying the letter of the law therefore I can only assume that all that do not are selling illegal bikes unless they state otherwise.

 

[the_killjoy]

I wonder how many cyclists have been prosecuted for not having a bell, or motorists who don't have the manufacturer of their number plate stamped on it, other ...