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March 14, 2024
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The UK government is considering proposals that would allow more powerful e-bikes to be sold in England, Scotland and Wales. It’s about e-bikes with 500W motors. According to the current legal situation, e-bike motors are limited to a nominal power (average, not max.) of 250 W.
The government is setting up a consulting company, which will also include the Ministry of Transport. E-bike manufacturers are also reportedly being asked for contributions. In addition to the current 250W limit, e-bikes in the UK are not allowed to be fitted with throttles. New laws could potentially lead to a doubling of wattage and a normalization of throttling.
In a perhaps surprising move, the Bicycle Association, a British e-bike trade group made up of suppliers and retailers, has previously campaigned against increasing the power of e-bikes. Their concern stemmed from fears that more powerful e-bikes would result in the government classifying them as something other than bicycles. A change in the classification of e-bikes could result in them having to be registered and insured and being banned from cycle paths. The bicycle industry fears that a reclassification could harm the further distribution of e-bikes.
While the bike industry fears that more powerful e-bikes could lead to new legal restrictions that could hurt sales of e-bikes, the government fears that a maximum assist speed of 15.5 miles per hour may be more difficult for riders E-bikes could be a disappointing speed bike… if only they were faster.
However, missing from the current proposals is a revision to the maximum assist speed of 15.5 miles per hour. In practice, switching from a rated power of 250W to 500W would simply result in e-bikes accelerating faster. This would probably also lead to an increased presence of e-bikes with hub motors. An e-bike with a 250 W mid-motor is sufficiently powerful, but a 250 W hub motor is significantly weaker. A jump to a maximum power rating of 500W would make hub motors more practical and could encourage e-bike adoption by bringing more affordable e-bikes to market in the UK
Opinion from Electric Bike Report:
This legislation would represent a major change for the e-bike market in the UK. To give readers an idea of how big a change it would be, most of the e-bikes we review here at Electric Bike Report are illegal in the UK. If we changed which e-bikes can be sold to include such With 500W motors included, the majority of the e-bikes we tested would still be taboo.
We hope, for the sake of consumers, that they will increase the permissible wattage and allow e-bikes to land with throttles. We also hope the government reconsiders its maximum support speed of 15.5mph. It’s easy to understand why some people might not be thrilled to be helped at such a moderate pace. Increasing the allowable wattage will unlock the market’s value for money by making e-bikes with hub motors practical. Increasing the speed limit could encourage the adoption of e-bikes. Some people look at how fast their car is going compared to 15.5 mph and then decide it’s better to keep driving.
More e-bike riders will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, reduce traffic congestion and make our cities more livable.
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