Our exemption from type approval will be withdrawn. And then all e-bikes will slip into the speed pedelec class. In other words, all e-bikes would be subject to approval. Manufacturers would have to submit every component to the Federal Motor Vehicle Authority, dealers would no longer be allowed to make any changes to the bike, and the bikes would need insurance. This would be a profitable business case for insurance companies, as there are over 30 million e-bikes on the road in Europe without insurance. And the technical testing institutes would also benefit from type approval. They could then say, “E-bikes are far too unsafe, we urgently need a technical inspection.”

This is clearly where things are going, but it’s a bit of a unsolvable conundrum. Even e-bikes which are EU-certified (i.e. no throttle and speed limitation) can often be jailbroken pretty easily. And police on the street can’t be expected to arbitrate all that. It’s going to be so tempting just to ban anything with a motor (or battery) from trains and maybe even bike lanes. A bit of a tragedy of the commons.