Does the Home Office know what an eBike/EAPC actually is?

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Boopop

Legendary Member
I'm not convinced they do. All eBikes are legal. EBikes that aren't legal, are not eBikes/EAPC's, they're motorbikes. Am I going mad?

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17GShdvt4y/

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Drago

Legendary Member
The Home Orifice couldn't find their own arses with a mirror on a stick.
 

Punkawallah

Veteran
“Dangerous and illegal e-bikes have no place on our streets.”
Therefore dangerous e-bikes, or illegal e-bikes, do? Asking for a friend.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next

Alex321

Guru
Location
South Wales
I'm not convinced they do. All eBikes are legal. EBikes that aren't legal, are not eBikes/EAPC's, they're motorbikes. Am I going mad?

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17GShdvt4y/

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That is for a personal definition of an Ebike. It isn't a legal definition.

Legally, there is no such thing defined as an ebike. They are EAPCs, and any electric powered cycle that does not meet those requirements, but has not been registered as a motorbike is an "illegal ebike" in normal usage.

For once, I wouldn't blame the Home Office here.
 
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To be fair to them the term "ebike" is used frequently in the general population as meaning anything with 2 wheels and an electric motor

which include legal EPAC/Pedalec devices AND the illegal ones
whether illegal due to a little tweak to disable the motor cutoff or add a throttle
or the types that are basically just like a 500cc motorbike

and they have to talk to the general public and use words they understand

the media and authorities need to start using terms like Pedalec and/or EPAC properly

but at least they are making it clear they are tackling illegal ebikes

although it does sort of imply that all bikes with a motor are illegal
 

presta

Legendary Member
'E-bike' is just shorthand for electric bike, anything with two wheels and an electric motor is an e-bike. The legal distinction is between EAPCs which, if they meet the legal criteria are classed as pedal cycles, and motorbikes, which are also regulated (regardless of whether the motor's electric or not). I keep trying to get people to avoid the term e-bike precisely because it's ambiguous and doesn't draw the relevant distinction, but most people who get upset about them don't care whether they're EAPCs or motorbikes. Quite commonly, they'll tell you "if it's got pedals it's a pushbike!".
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
I keep trying to get people to avoid the term e-bike precisely because it's ambiguous and doesn't draw the relevant distinction, but most people who get upset about them don't care whether they're EAPCs or motorbikes. Quite commonly, they'll tell you "if it's got pedals it's a pushbike!".
It would be nice if the Home Office and the Police could try being precise and not pander to "most people who get upset about them" (= motorists, sobbing into their steering wheel while their oversize metal money-pit greenhouse is stuck behind another single-occupancy greenhouse and they have to watch all the cyclists smiling as they ride past?)
 
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