Change is coming!! The Uk Government have hinted that the e-bike law in the UK needs to change to keep up with the ever growing demand for electric bikes and e-vehicles. Two of the main changes revolve around the motor output and the use of a throttle. This is great news for people using e-bikes in the UK. However, will these changes come at a cost? for example, will we now have to register e-bikes as well as insure them and even complete a test in order to ride an e-bike.
I also discuss the popular question – “Where can I ride a Surron or Talaria e-bike legally? You might find that the answer is not what you expect!!
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37 Comments
You are quite right about the motor power, it is very silly. Its safer to have a higher power motor to get yourself out of a bad situation such as crawling up a hill on a narrow road with angry drivers behind overtaking at inapropriate opportunities.
The proposed increase to 500w is foolish – they may as well go to 750w because manufacturers are simply going to sell a restricted 750w motor to the UK market.
If the rider is going to have to have insurance is this going to mean the bike will have to have a number plate? Will the police do more spot checks to make sure people have insurance?? I can see the market for stealth ebikes increasing if so because nobody wants to be stopped and have to present documents.
Too many restriction and like you say we may as well get a motorbike, especially if you have to wear a helmet and have insurance and do a test – a 125 is far more fun and powerful than an ebike, and if they make a better noise too!
I have a fat bike that goes 35mph but i can take it the same place that you do and the feild owners are chill about
Interesting video, im 55 now but rode motorcycle since 16 , i also have gravel, mtb and road bikes, dont understand how the biggest demographic ( young lads) would possibly be able to afford to insure a Sur Ron or even a 500w ebike, you cannot also translate hp to speed, all the off road places here in Somerset are full of ebikes and i gave witnessed some insane riding on footpaths and bridal ways
You need min age, better classification of the vehicles and test equal to cbt at the least, also data loggers
Love all two wheel vehicles, but tech is moving faster than the law
what trousers are u wearing?
I got quoted $75 a year for liability insurance on my ebike that's not bad if you run Into somebody and the damage is covered.
I’d love to ride an e-bike to work but due to an injury I need full assist especially up hills, so it’s not an option, unfortunately the current law seems to be a one size fits all and discriminates against pepeole, with disabilities or heaver pepeole, no reason a 1000w Moyer can’t be used and regulated to deliver power and maintain the league speed limits, e-bikes could be a major answer to the climate crisis and congestion, pepole in power are clueless to be honest in my opinion.
You say you can't fail a cbt😂 my little bro failed after he dropped the bike at a set of traffic lights lmfaooo
Power of an e bike is not important if the speed is limited but more power on a limited bike means more able to climb hills which makes them safer and better not any more dangerous. In fact it makes take off better when keeping in traffic flow. I got involved in the govt e scooter consultation, their suggestions were ridiculous in my eyes, ignoring things that could be considered to make them a safe cheap transport mode, like decent size wheels that aren't too small for our crappy potholed roads and the simple option of a seat on a scooter making it more stable for any rider , even my old mum could enjoy that, and easily get it indoors , or up stairs etc. . Money always ends up the motivation. A cbt etc. will mean a licence, might as well buy a moped for far less money. Remember 16 yr olds had to ride limited mopeds with pedals? That didn't last did it? Mo FS1Es in shops now.
Surely everyone knows what the plans are ,they want us out of our cars ultimately evs as well hence the 15min cities.of course the 'government 'are going to tax us on everything including carbon.
I lost count now how many years rental scooters have been available, so much for the 1 year trial?? Gov BS as usual.
Which brings me to my point, how can they even start to consider scooters becoming legal when they are throttle only? Over 250watts ?
Wth is going on?
Consistency and fairness? Lol.
I completely agree though "imo" although facts show it is true that all the gov are there for is keeping rich rich, poor poor, and economy comes before any value of life.
Cough "co vid" …. now disagree ! 😂
eBikes should be limited to 20mph so you can keep up with the traffic in such restricted areas. There would then be no need for 'close pass' etc, because you're at the max anyway.
I can pedel my bike at about 20mph on the flat (I am a retiree!), but the assistance is useful for hills….
I feel its sensible to require a type of license/certificate to purchase a bike to rule out anyone who could use it illegally
It's all about more ₤₤₤ for the greedy, corrupt government.
I dont follow the law. I ride my nami escooter and talaria on roads and off road.
Laws i dont follow.
Why don't cyclists wear high visual clothing anymore? I was taught to make every effort to be seen.
If its not atleast a 45mph bike i dont want it. But over there it sounds like just more and more money and control. It happens here too but a lot of us do what we want anyway.
Couple companys are offering a full throttle option for 300 bucks, wisper being one. It gets sent to dvsa to be certified as a eapc 2 which will allow you complete usage on uk roads.
You can have your Surron on the road however it just appears to me that you do not want to register or insure it, I would love to get away with that argument on my motorcycle or car. If we remove the restriction for pedal assist then those bikes will also lose the ability to use the same areas that standard pedal cycles currently use as these areas will become overrun with what are effectively electric motorbikes. One of your arguments that these electric motorcycles are actually safer than pedal assist is you state & 11.55 that your bike is equipped with better brakes than a pedal cycle, that’s strange as yours appears to be equipped with Hope Tech 4 master cylinders which are designed for normal bicycles. Just give in, register your bike, do your CBT and ride it without complaining.
Throttle and pedal is way safer than pedal assist
You can manage exactly the power with a throttle completely agree with you mate 🙏
70mph on 4 wheels weighing around a ton ?
15 mph pedal bike dangerous 🤨
I surrendered my driving licence after having a seizure and they won’t give me it back now even though I’m 100% healthy . now there trying to take my bike 😂. I will build a para moter
If they ban e-bikes I’d suggest they make the legal age for driving a vehicle 🚗 be at least 50 years old
Stop stupid people using there phones while driving.
Government always do one of 2 things , Ban it and collect fines. license it and pay up!
Only 4 pedestrians are killed by bicycles every year compared to 400 pedestrians killed annually by cars
What is the difference between an electric car and a fossil fuel car and make the same comparison between an e-bike, a 50cc moped and a normal motorbike.
The problem is that if a car driver is always deemed responsible in an accident with a bicycle where does that leave the driver when an ebike arrives at and crosses a pedestrian crossing from the pavement at 20 mph?
Power restriction are stupid just post speed limit.stop being a idiot we do not limit cars like this
Granny state uk 🇬🇧 this laws are terrible I hope they change
do we know when they're going to be looking at the laws or is it the usual guessing game with the government? also if they can geo restrict where dji drones can fly it wouldn't be much of a leap to geo lock ebikes
Not pointless if you have a mid drive motor.
4mph is average walking pace.
These are just in public consultation phase atm. So not law yet. Cycling groups are broadly against the suggested changes.
We need more protected cycling infrastructure, not more powerful e-bikes. Remember the existing laws are for pedal assist cycles. Not replacing cycling with motors more akin to motorbikes.
A 500w motor will mean e-bikes accelerating faster to 15.5mph and make e-bikes heavier and in turn the batteries – increasing fire risks. Increasing throttle should be no more than say 10mph IMO, not 15.5mph, if for disabled riders who can’t pedal. They already have class 3 mobility scooters.
If you want more powerful bikes then get a moped or speed pedelec to ride on the road with the appropriate legal paperwork.
We have an ADO folding E bike with a 250 watt motor with a CE mark on it. I have been into the engineering section, changed it to hybrid drive and increased the max speed setting and fitted the throttle that came with the bike as an option. The bike now goes up to 15.5 mph as normal with the pedal assist but the throttle takes it up to about 22 mph without pedaling hard, in still conditions on the flat. I now find it perfectly capable enough for tootling about as a sensible e-bike. I can't see that 500 watts is needed. If I want to go faster I can get my Kawasaki 900 RS, or my Honda cbr 600 f out and go nearly 160 mph ( where permitted ) lol. Don't think any faster than that speed on an e-bike is appropriate and at that speed I wouldn't attract the wrong attention, particularly at 65 years old.
I have a legal rockrider e bike. Gets up clay filled rough forest terrain on a 20 degree incline fine with about 100w of power from my legs. You’re using the wrong bikes if you can’t get up a hill.
I like the law as is. I love my ebike and don’t see it pointless at all. It helps me train in the right easy zone despite hills and rough terrain, it gets me further and helps lug stuff around
I’m disabled and can output more power than 250kw 😂
Glad they have seen some sense ✌️
Im 120kg…..250w is absolutely useless for me !
The average politician went so Eton school, so anything with a wheel will baffle them.
I have a full motorcycle license and an e-bike but to be honest, if they start introducing more and more laws and requirements for e bikes with more power and a throttle you as well just get a motorbike.
It’s more like control and theft from the people they hate
The government have had a consultation on number plates for push bike back in 2021/22 can't remember which year