A7) The actual US legal definition of ebikes and their classifications. They are derived from some european standards, which, as usual for european standards are bit doofy. But they are what we have now. For the record, federal law recognizes these standards, and so do most states.
Class 1: power assist only, no throttle, limited to 20mph (power shuts off at 20mph, you're welcome to go faster with power of leg)
Class 2: a class 1 ebike, but with a throttle that lets you go as much as 20 mph without pedalling.
Class 3: a class 1 ebike, but upper motor assist limit at 28 mph, and cannot have a throttle.
ebike capable of more than 28 mph? That's basically moped territory, and states' moped regulation is all over the place, and usually are defined in terms of the cc of the dinoburner moped engine, which obviously does not apply very well here.
Like I said, definitions are a bit doofy and not very practical. But that's what we have. #bikenite
@artemesia@ascentale@ai6yr@sam I don't think the EU definitions are doofy at all. Our cities have a lot of bike infra that's suitable for use at normal town bike speeds, up to around 15-20 km/h, but not suitable for mopeds – that's why we need a sharp distinction between what counts as a bicycle and what counts as a moped.
@artemesia@ascentale@ai6yr@sam Also, bicycles are not subject to individual type approval (with a kind of technical passport), everything else is. Imagine if every modification to a bike had to be registered with tge authorities. We don't want that, so we have to have a legally clear cutoff. <>
Do you (the EU) have a legally clear cutoff? Because I'm not seeing one. I'm just seeing some mediocre utility definitions of ebikes.
Also, I will bet you 10 dollars to the euro that certain "250 watt" mid-drives are cheating on the power output like a volkswagen emissions control unit.
Authorities are probably lagging behind in being able to test this in the field, but we have historically had pretty tight enforcement against tuned mopeds (45 km/h cutoff) and there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to do similar for e-bikes. >
@artemesia@ascentale@ai6yr@sam The only countries that I know of that let moped-like things use bike infra are NL and DK. These are much older regulations than the invention of e-bikes. In NL it's only the Snorfiets (max 25 km/h) that can be used on bike infra in towns; outside towns you can also ride on bike infra with a Bromfiets (moped, max 45), but NL overland bike paths are pretty big. In DK mopeds on bike paths are a contentious issue. Other 25 EU countries: no mopeds on bike paths. <>
@ascentale@ai6yr@sam #BikeNite A7:
To me, the essential question is whether it is pedal assist (vs. throttle) and the top speed. A decade ago I owned a "motor scooter" with a <50cc engine and it could go 35 mph or a little more on downhills. If you have to pedal and it doesn't go too fast, it's an ebike. If it has a throttle and goes fast, it is an e-scooter. IMHO.
(It got stolen, along with huge numbers of bikes and motorcycles and scooters on campus all at the same time, an organised looting by some organisation.)
@ascentale@ai6yr@sam A7: Does it have (working, real) pedals that are engineered and intended to be used? If so, it's an ebike. If not, it's a scooter (or motorcycle).
(That includes of course hand crank bikes with assist.)
@ascentale@ai6yr@sam I might be able to be talked into a more broad definition under the right circumstances, e.g., can't go over 15 or maybe 20mph and under a certain weight.
but for me it's about the pedals (and/or cranks et al)
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