Is your ebike Road Legal?
Christmas is coming and folk are making choices about that new bike. We thought we’d do a post about what is (and isn’t) allowed on the public road.
To be ridden legally on public roads in the UK an ebike should be an EAPC which stands for Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle. EPAC is the term used by the UK government in its documentation (which is linked below).
All our hire ebikes are EAPCs and are road legal in the UK. So rather than tell you what isn’t allowed I’m going to describe the main features that make them legal. If your ebike differs from these points it’s probably not legal on our roads.
- Our EAPC ebikes have …
- pedals that are used to propel the ebike. Except during Walk Assist (see below) the ebike will not move with assistance unless it is being pedalled.
- an electric motor rated at not more than 250 Watts and they don’t have any switch or other mechanism that allows them to exceed that power.
- assistance is restricted to 15.5 mph (25 kph). Speeds above this level are easilly possible but are not assisted by the electric motor and are pedal powered only.
- our ebikes have a Walk Assist mode that enables the ebike to ppropel itself wihout being pedalled at walking speeds up to 6 kph (approx 3.7 mph). There is no throttle or “Twist and Go” on our ebikes.
- may only be ridden on the public road by those over 14 years of age. (we apply a 16 years minimum for hire agreements)
- In addition to the above EAPC requirements our ebikes also …
- have brakes and other equipment appropriate to the weight and power of the machine
- are equipped with lights front and rear
- have reflective pedals and a rear red reflector
Walk Assist mode is accessed by pressing and holding one of the assistance selector buttons on the handlebar mounted controller. This mode engages the motor to propel the bike forward at walking speed or less. This is very useful for walking the bike up very steep slopes or even staircases. Maximum speed in this mode is just 6 kph (walking speed).
If you have an electrically powered cycle that breaks or exceeds any of the above EAPC points and you are riding on the public road then you probably have a motor cycle and should be folowing all the rules for one of those.
The above information is based on the UK Government’s EAPC regulations which can be found here. https://www.gov.uk/electric-bike-rules
Unless exempted, “Motor Vehicles” are covered by the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Compliant EPACs (legal ebikes) are exempted from the UK Road Traffic Act 1988 specifically in Section 185 (1)(c) as: “an electrically assisted pedal cycle of such a class as may be prescribed by regulations”.
