An article in today’s Sunday’s Times, headlined “28mph ebikes speed past legal limit” features both a video clip of a cyclist being overtaken at speed by another, apparently electrified, cycle as well as a look at which retailers are selling speed pedelecs and dongles.
Since electric bikes are governed by their use on the roads, it is not illegal to sell over-powered (more than 250w) and over-speed (assistance not cutting out at 15.5mph) electric bikes, but the expected good practice in the industry is that customers are made fully aware of their legal obligations in registering a speed pedelec to be able to ride it on the road, or any other area accessible by the public.
The paper reports that a Sunday Times journalist, posing as a customer, asked a member of staff at a 50cycles store about the registration of speed pedelecs, to be told it was a ‘grey area’ and one where he personally was only aware of 2 such registrations, while adding that he didn’t ‘think the government really knows what’s going on or what direction they want to take’. He continued that they were very popular with commuters travelling into London that just want to go fast.
Tim Snaith, director of 50cycles, told the Sunday Times that the member of staff was ‘incorrect’ and would be retrained, saying: “Some of our customers may decide to take the risk to ride their bike without registering, whereas others are certainly registering them as we advise, and as the DVLA confirms.”
Dongles, which the paper explains as being able to ‘trick the bike’s speed sensor to double the speed at which the motor cuts out’ are also highlighted, along with their easy availability from Ebikeshop and elsewhere online. Industry concerns about e-bikes derestricted to achieve assisted speeds beyond what they are tested and retailed as have been widely debated on the Pedelecs forum.
The issue of speed pedelecs on UK roads is not a new one within industry circles; it is the first time the subject has been scrutinised in a national newspaper however. Registering a speed pedelec for road use is thought to be less than straight-forward however, without a ‘speed pedelec’ classification in the UK as there is elsewhere in the EU, a bike ridden in the UK currently needs to be registered as a ‘moped’ – a less than natural fit.
While the law is clear on the assistance limitations that classify an Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle not requiring registration for road use, a fit cyclist can pedal past the 15.5mph cut off, as with an ordinary cycle.
The Sunday Times probe is reported as following up on the Bicycle Association and Motorcycle Industry Associations’ joint announcement earlier this year, serving to remind the industry that there are no ‘grey areas’ on the usage rules.
