UK law

[Stevegray]

Hi I’m based in the UK and recently decided to do my bit for the environment by giving up my motorbike In favour of an environmentally friendly Electric Mountain Bike.
I purchased the bike from amazon the bike has 3 Working Modes Pedal mode, Pedal assist mode, throttle mode, and comes with a 250W brushless gear motor. Top speed: 25km/h = 15.7mph.
I felt the throttle mode would be very useful as I’m in my late 60s and this was one of the main reasons I purchased the bike.
I now find that UK law does not support throttle mode and if I take the bike out on the road I will be breaking the law
If I’m only using Pedal assist mode will I still be breaking the law or is there some other work around for this situation to make my bike legal in the UK any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[flecc]

Hi I’m based in the UK and recently decided to do my bit for the environment by giving up my motorbike In favour of an environmentally friendly Electric Mountain Bike.
I purchased the bike from amazon the bike has 3 Working Modes Pedal mode, Pedal assist mode, throttle mode, and comes with a 250W brushless gear motor. Top speed: 25km/h = 15.7mph.
I felt the throttle mode would be very useful as I’m in my late 60s and this was one of the main reasons I purchased the bike.
I now find that UK law does not support throttle mode and if I take the bike out on the road I will be breaking the law
If I’m only using Pedal assist mode will I still be breaking the law or is there some other work around for this situation to make my bike legal in the UK any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Steve. There are numerous throttles in use and the police take no notice since it's too difficult to act as all e-bikes created before 1st January 2016 have grandfather rights to keep their throttles.

For the fuller picture see my article on the full details of the law and in particular scroll down to:

Getting legal permission to have a fully acting "Twist and Go" throttle on a pedelec:

But read it right through.

Also read the Kit Motor section near the end,

Information Link
.

 

[Stevegray]

Hi Steve. There are numerous throttles in use and the police take no notice since it's too difficult to act as all e-bikes created before 1st January 2016 have grandfather rights to keep their throttles.

For the fuller picture see my article on the full details of the law and in particular scroll down to:

Getting legal permission to have a fully acting "Twist and Go" throttle on a pedelec:

But read it right through.

Also read the Kit Motor section near the end,

Information Link
.

Thanks for the information very helpful however i still have some concerns most people new to ebikes are not aware of UK law so it looks like there’s going to be a lot of convictions because companies selling on amazon are flooding the market with illegal ebikes that have 3 Working Modes Pedal mode, Pedal assist mode, and (illegal throttle mode).

 

[guerney]

Thanks for the information very helpful however i still have some concerns most people new to ebikes are not aware of UK law so it looks like there’s going to be a lot of convictions because companies selling on amazon are flooding the market with illegal ebikes that have 3 Working Modes Pedal mode, Pedal assist mode, and (illegal throttle mode).

The conversion kit I bought from Amazon had an illegal throttle, but it can be set to the legal throttle limit of 6km/h using software, to set the controller's firmware using a programming cable. I just omitted the throttle from the build, works fine without. Ready built bikes don't appear to have anywhere near the same configurability, as the Bafang BBSXX series. KT kits seem to be even more configurable.

 

[Benjahmin]

Hi Steve,
Pedelec law is, frankly, a mess. You can have an independant acting throttle so long as it is speed limited to 5mph (known as walk assist). OR you can have a full speed (15mph)throttle so long as it stops working when you stop pedaling. OR, as Flecc says, if your bike was bought before 1/1/16 you can have a fully independant throttle to 15mph (grandfather rights - otherwise known as, 'The genies already out of the bottle it's too much of a mess to clean up.'
Most of the bikes you talk about will probably mention that they are for off road use only. This also is incorrect and misleading. An overspeed or throttle pedalec can only legally be used on Private land to which there is no public access. In otherwords your own estate.
I have been riding my conversion with full acting throttle, since 2014 and the only copper I've spoken to was a pcso who was interested in getting an ebike. I am in very rural Wales.
Frankly I think the police are so overworked that you will not be bothered. So long as you don't go hooning around without pedaling, who's to know? I doubt it's an area of law that the average copper has head room for on top of all the other stuff.
I do, however, think it's bonkers that they are allowed to sell these illegal machines - but then go talk to Halfords about selling illegal scooters !

 

[I893469365902345609348566]

I do, however, think it's bonkers that they are allowed to sell these illegal machines - but then go talk to Halfords about selling illegal scooters !

He fell over for no reason that I could see, but didn't look dead, wasn't leaking blood. He shouted "It's a show mate!", while he was getting up, which was odd:

 

[flecc]

Thanks for the information very helpful however i still have some concerns most people new to ebikes are not aware of UK law so it looks like there’s going to be a lot of convictions because companies selling on amazon are flooding the market with illegal ebikes that have 3 Working Modes Pedal mode, Pedal assist mode, and (illegal throttle mode).

I understand your concern Steve, but it is unfounded, there will not be lots of convictions of bikes for having throttles.

The police have shown concern on rare occasions for only two things, high powered motors 1000 watts upwards and bikes able to be motor propelled at speeds far in excess of 15.5 mph, often 30 mph or more.

The only times there's been that police action is when someone like a pedestrian has been hurt in an accident, but they never pay attention to the nitty gritty of the law such as having a throttle and the power cutting when pedalling stops. The throttle issue is such a tangled mess that they don't know that law anyway and never will,

Two of the three e-bikes I've owned have been like yours, switching available between pedelec or throttle only mode. I only ever rode them in throttle mode, riding them from 2006 onwards and have never had any problems.

If you are still concerned, either ride your bike only in pedelec mode so conforming to the law, or go though all the rigmarole of getting it type approved as 250 LPM. You'd only be the second I know of to do that out of at least a third of a million e-bikers out there.
.

 

[sjpt]

What Benjahmin and Flecc say above is very true.

You are only likely to have problems with the ebike law in two situations

• Your bike clearly and very obviously breaks the law, and even then probably only if you are riding it very irresponsibly, and even with both of those still probably not.
• If you are involved in an accident.

If you are involved in an accident things may get looked into in great detail by the police or by the other parties insurance company. In that case even a bike that is only very marginally illegal could be an issue.

In a prominent case (around a couple of year ago) somebody riding a very obviously illegal ebike very dangerously and well above the speed limit (*) ran over and killed a pedestrian. The CPS charged him with manslaughter, but did not bring any lesser charges about illegal bike, no insurance etc that they could (should) have done. He got off the manslaughter charge because of contributory negligence by the pedestrian, and as the other charges had not been brought he got off scott free (other than worry between accident and case, and bad conscience if he had one, which I doubt).

(*) For some odd reason normal speed limits do not apply to bikes and pedalecs. The pedalec has the assisted speed limit of 15.5mph. However, once an ebike is NOT a pedalec it is a motor vehicle and so the normal speed limits do apply, as well as requirement for insurance, etc etc.

 

[Stevegray]

would this solve my problem

 

[flecc]

would this solve my problemView attachment 45435

Yes it would.

Or you could just rig or cover the switch that changes to the throttle mode so you couldn't operate it while riding.

But as said, you are making a fuss about nothing.

During over a decade a number of our police forces tried out pedelecs for some years. Every single one of those pedelecs was illegal under UK law due to having excess power, as indeed were almost all our own ones from year 2000 through to 6th April 2015 when the law was finally changed to make them all legal.

That illegality of neither their own ones or ours troubled them at all, such is the mess of UK law on pedelecs.
.

 

[GSV3MiaC]

Curveball time.. What are the rules, if they differ any, for electric three wheelers (or 4 or 5 for that matter). Can they still use bridleways, subject to being able to get thru the obstacle furniture pinch points?

Anyone here have one they can recommend for a wobbly adult?

 

[sjpt]

Curveball time.. What are the rules, if they differ any, for electric three wheelers (or 4 or 5 for that matter). Can they still use bridleways, subject to being able to get thru the obstacle furniture pinch points?

Anyone here have one they can recommend for a wobbly adult?

3 wheelers have same rules as 2 wheelers. 4 (or more) wheelers can't count as pedelecs

 

[flecc]

Curveball time.. What are the rules, if they differ any, for electric three wheelers (or 4 or 5 for that matter). Can they still use bridleways, subject to being able to get thru the obstacle furniture pinch points?

Anyone here have one they can recommend for a wobbly adult?

Yes e-trikes can use bridleways legally if they have legal ratings, 250 watts and maximum assist of 15.5 mph.

HOWEVER, you need to be aware of the legal position if challenged.

The original law permitting bicycles on bridleways is the Countryside Act 1968, but that only permitted bicycles, not the "bicycles, tricycles and bicycles with four or more wheels" quaintly referred to in other cycling legislation.

But that is no problem for trikes now since the Government backed Sustrans (sustainable transport) organisation later obtained permission for tricycles as well. All that also applies to e-assisted ones as well.
.

 

[flecc]

3 wheelers have same rules as 2 wheelers. 4 (or more) wheelers can't count as pedelecs

Just to ensure your post isn't misunderstood, four wheeled pedelecs are also legal on the roads, cyclepaths and shared use footpaths, only barred on bridleways at present.
.

 

[matthewslack]

Curveball time.. What are the rules, if they differ any, for electric three wheelers (or 4 or 5 for that matter). Can they still use bridleways, subject to being able to get thru the obstacle furniture pinch points?

Anyone here have one they can recommend for a wobbly adult?

Two very different styles. For pictures, search Ebay for 'electric trike' and most of what you see are two back wheels, easy to get on and off and ride. Then search for 'recumbent trike' to see mostly more sporty, less easy to get on and off with two wheels at the front.

I have not ridden any of them, but tempted by a recumbent.

 

[sjpt]

Just to ensure your post isn't misunderstood, four wheeled pedelecs are also legal on the roads, cyclepaths and shared use footpaths, only barred on bridleways at present.
.

Thank you. I misunderstood ... so my post was plain wrong.

 

[I893469365902345609348566]

The passenger(s) of a 4-wheeled pedelec would be safer in a badger collision, but not if it was hungry, because of the low riding position.

 

[flecc]

Thank you. I misunderstood ... so my post was plain wrong.

Including quad e-bikes was one of the less obvious changes made by the amendments to the pedelec law on 6th April 2015.

For the same reason all pedelec weight limits were removed at the same time, the intention being to widen the use of pedelecs for goods and passenger carrying, Dutch and Danish style.

If only our country were as flat as Holland and Denmark !

For those intentions to work as well here in frequently hilly Britain, we'd need the assist power limit to be at least 1000 watts. We could do that very easily now we are out of the EU:

Just specify the L1e-A Low Powered Moped class as the new bureaucracy free pedelec regulation and scrap all the existing mess, since that is also bicycle based and 15.5 mph limited but with a maximum of 1000 watts assistance.

 

[I893469365902345609348566]

Including quad e-bikes was one of the less obvious changes made by the amendments to the pedelec law on 6th April 2015.

For the same reason all pedelec weight limits were removed at the same time, the intention being to widen the use of pedelecs for goods and passenger carrying, Dutch and Danish style.

If only our country were as flat as Holland and Denmark !

For those intentions to work as well here in frequently hilly Britain, we'd need the assist power limit to be at least 1000 watts. We could do that very easily now we are out of the EU:

Just specify the L1e-A Low Powered Moped class as the new bureaucracy free pedelec regulation and scrap all the existing mess, since that is also bicycle based and 15.5 mph limited but with a maximum of 1000 watts assistance.

.

A pedelec is legal if it has a motor rated at 250W, but do they remain legal if high voltage? Therefore 72V 4 wheeled 250w motored pedelcs, or those of even higher voltage, could be viable and legal cargo vehicles?

 

[I893469365902345609348566]

These vehicles would destroy a badger, depending on how heavily the vehicles were laden, and whether it was harpooned by the pointy end.