Leva-EU Calls On The EU To Exclude Electric Cargo Bikes From EU Standards

The Leva-EU industry association hopes to relax the EU’s technical regulations on electric cargo bicycles: manufacturers should be allowed to install more powerful motors without customers having to bear more obligations.

To this end, the association appointed its board member, cyclist Eddie Eccleston, as the SBS Small Business Standards (SBS) expert. According to Leva-EU, the organization is commissioned by the European Commission to monitor the interest of SMEs in European standardization with experts. As an SBS expert, Eccleston aims to develop better rules for LEV manufacturers in the EU.

The appointment is part of the Leva EU campaign, which includes the exclusion of electric cargo bikes from the restrictive legal requirements for L-class vehicles (such as mopeds, motorcycles or S-Pedelecs with speeds up to 45 km/h) . Such vehicles require insurance license plates, helmets and driving licenses are still mandatory, and driving on the road is also mandatory. The success of electric scooters is also due to the fact that these rules do not apply to electric scooters with a maximum speed of 25km per hour and 250 watts. Electric cargo bikes should now also be allowed to have more powerful engines without having to comply with stricter regulations.

According to Eccleston, considering the increasing weight of the load, the 250 watt power limit that electric cargo bike manufacturers must comply with is obviously not enough, especially on roads with rugged routes to avoid type certification, which is to avoid type Reason for certification. At the same time, European cities banned the use of cars, vans and trucks, and praised electric cargo bikes as an excellent choice. This is why Ecclestone called for more such vehicles to be excluded from legislation.

Every day, I receive Leva-EU requests from small companies that do not understand EU regulations. "We hope that SBS can go a long way in simplifying the standards and making them more effective by better coordinating the various related directives. Eccleston said: "In particular, we want to ensure that future standards for electric cargo bikes are suitable for small businesses. "

EU legal background

In 2013, the European Council and Parliament decided to exclude only electric bicycles with 25 km/h pedal assist and 250 watt pedal assist from the L category of Regulation (EC) 168/2013. All other electric bicycles should comply with the original technical regulations for mopeds and motorcycles with internal combustion engines, which forces manufacturers to perform complex and expensive procedures such as S-Pedelec. Electric bicycle manufacturers currently limit their vehicle power to 250 watts to circumvent regulations and subsequent model approvals.

Leva-EU represents light electric vehicle manufacturers in the European Union, Norway, Switzerland, China and South Korea, many of which are small companies in the electric bicycle field in Europe. Eddie Eccleston commented: "For Leva-EU, it is very good to have a stronger voice through SBS, because it is a key organization that can help implement more for the LEV department. Good rules and regulations, which are not always so well-known at the EU level. The coronavirus crisis is accelerating the use of LEV as a safe, alternative, green and healthy way of travel. However, the legislation must be kept in step with the sector, and there are serious The problem is that these rules are not good for LEV. There is an urgent need to solve this problem."