Petition for faster E-bikes

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Hello,
This is be my first post on a forum!
I’m essentially hoping to encourage people to sign a petition for the government to consider increasing the speed of an E-bike or peddle assisted bike from 16 mph to 20 mph.
16mph is fine once you reach built up areas however 16mph feels very slow on A roads where cars pass at 40 to 50 mph!
Petition link shared below:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/332333
 

Drago

Legendary Member
Nope, sorry. With respect to your good self I won't be signing that.

If you want a faster ebike you can already buy them, provided you have the rewqisite insurance, licence, etc. I don't see why an electric moped (for thats what they are in law) should be treated any less leniently in that regard than petrol mopeds.

And then there's the other problem. Our driving licence tiers and vehicle classes are harmonised with the EU. It would require the UK withdrawing from a treaty, a change in primary legislation, and then specific statute changes, before it could be enacted - that won't happen because it then wouldn't be compliant anywhere else in georgraphical europe, and the whole licence harmonisation system starts to break down, and UK citizens then get stitched when we want to drive abroad.

The whole point of ebikes is that they are legally and in capability well distanced from motor vehicles. I can see no reason not to keep it that way, and lots of practical and legal reasons why it shouldn't.

If you want to do 20 on a roads use the pedals like every other cyclist has to. Its actually not all that difficult. Ironically, on a decent normal bicycle youll find it a lot easier riding at 20 without all the excess weight of an ebike to tow about - thats exactly what I do when riding faster routes, and leave the ebike at home.
 
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Drago

Legendary Member
Aside from the above, the petition wording is misleading. It is not commonly accepted that the ebike assistance limit is putting people off.

Just the opposite - the introdction of ebike, complete with their 15.5 mph assistance limit, has seen the biggest move away from private cars and public transport since WW2. The Covid situation has really given this some momentum and demand is now so high that many models are difficult to source.

I'm sure there are some who complain, but the wording of the petition is, at best, a serious exaggeration in terms of people being put off buying ebikes. The government aren stupid (well, youd like to think they aren't...) and they know this. Even if I were to agree with the matter I still could not sign a petition with such disingenuous wording,
 
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fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Nope from me too. Stupid idea. Ebiked MTB uphill at 15 MPH is a farkin menace at times, even for relatively fit riders. They come out of no-where

I have to keep fit to do 20 mph, and that means lots of riding - beginners doing 20 and mixing with experienced cyclists at that speed, no ta.
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
No from me as well.
There is not much difference between 16 mph and 20 mph, compared to cars traveling at 60 mph. Rather than making it safer, it could easily put the cyclist at risk, as a motorist would not expect a bike to be traveling at that speed up hill and could easily miss judge the distance an e-cyclist would be covering, particularly at turnings, roundabouts etc.
 

Electric_Andy

Heavy Metal Fan
Location
Plymouth
If anything I'd like to see the power limit increased from 250W to 500W but retain the 15mph cut-off. Then you can realistically do 15mph up a steep hill. But raising the speed limit to 20mph is pointless. Up a hill you'd be hard pushed to maintain that without hard pedalling. On the flat you can exceed the cut-off by pedalling anyway. And going 5mph faster on an A road will have zero impact on safety.
 
Another no.
15 mph is around the speed that wind resistance starts to ramp up badly.
So to go 5 mph faster takes roughly double the energy.
The major bugbear with most e-bikes is the range, not the speed.
So why cut cut the range just to go a bit faster.
Not very "green".

Luck ............ ^_^
 

beepbeep

Senior Member
Location
Yorkshire
I have various road bikes, a couple of mountain bikes and an ebike....I use the ebike ( mountain bike style ) on my holidays as general transport instead of the car ....15mph is fast enough for the electric power...any faster and I just pedal more..after all isn't that what cycles are for ?

Any faster ??? get a motorcycle.
 

Drago

Legendary Member
If anything I'd like to see the power limit increased from 250W to 500W but retain the 15mph cut-off. Then you can realistically do 15mph up a steep hill. But raising the speed limit to 20mph is pointless. Up a hill you'd be hard pushed to maintain that without hard pedalling. On the flat you can exceed the cut-off by pedalling anyway. And going 5mph faster on an A road will have zero impact on safety.
Im a shade under 19 stones weight and can do 15mph up a steep hill on my ebike.
 
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