Europe has a problem with illegal e-bikes and manufacturers are calling for action now

The European bicycle industry is once again uniting against tampered e-bikes and models that do not comply with regulations. European Cycling Industries (ECI) has just published a new Manifesto for a Safe and Compliant EU Market, supported by representatives from the sector, which calls on European institutions to take much stronger measures against illegal electric bicycles, de-restriction kits, and especially products that enter the European market through online platforms without meeting the same requirements as established manufacturers in the EU.

The industry calls for a ban on de-restriction kits for e-bikes across Europe

The concern is not new. We already explained in 2020 the legal and safety risks of modifying or de-restricting an e-bike and, four years later, the main manufacturers began to tighten technical measures to prevent their motors from being tampered with. The new manifesto now represents a further step, and the industry wants European institutions themselves to intervene to close the avenues through which these products continue to enter the market.

The most direct point of the manifesto is the request to ban the sale of kits intended to manipulate pedal-assisted electric bicycles (EPAC) throughout the European Union.

European legislation keeps pedal-assisted bicycles that meet certain conditions out of the motor vehicle category, including a maximum continuous rated power of 250 W and that assistance is interrupted before exceeding 25 km/h. Precisely this status allows a conventional e-bike to be used, with the particularities of each national legislation, essentially as a bicycle and without the obligations of a moped.

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The problem arises when the system is modified to eliminate those limitations. As we previously explained in Brújula Bike, a tampered bicycle may cease to meet the requirements under which it was marketed as an e-bike and enter a completely different legal framework.

ECI cites France as an example, where legislation already allows action against such manipulations, and calls for the rest of Europe to follow a similar line. In addition to banning the kits, it calls for their removal from marketplaces, pursuing repeat offenders, and clearly informing users about the consequences of modifying an e-bike.

The problem is no longer just tampered e-bikes

One of the important new aspects of the manifesto is that it significantly broadens the focus. The industry no longer only points to the user who subsequently modifies a homologated bicycle but also to e-bikes that enter the European market directly without meeting their technical and safety requirements.

ECI particularly focuses on e-commerce and sellers located outside the European Union. According to the organization, certain products reach consumers directly through large online platforms without a clearly responsible operator within the EU to ensure their compliance.

Therefore, the manifesto proposes four major measures:

1. Ban the sale of e-bike manipulation kits throughout the EU.
2. Create a European database on non-compliant electric bicycles, modifications, related accidents, and economic effects.
3. Strengthen and standardize market surveillance in the European market, including online sales.
4. Provide police and local authorities with training and technical means to recognize an illegal or tampered e-bike.

Among the most forceful proposals is to legally consider marketplaces as economic operators, so they can assume responsibilities for facilitating the sale of de-restriction kits, digital services aimed at exceeding legal limits, or bicycles that do not comply with European regulations. ECI also calls for imported products to have a responsible representative established within the EU who can be held accountable in situations such as battery fires or structural failures.

Manufacturers also want to protect the current status of e-bikes

Behind these requests, there is obviously a safety issue. A bicycle designed to operate within certain parameters can face different stresses, speeds, and situations when those limits are modified. Moreover, an accident involving a tampered bicycle can ultimately affect public perception of e-bikes and the reputation of manufacturers who originally marketed completely legal products.

But there is another particularly important issue for the industry: to prevent the proliferation of illegal bicycles from leading to stricter regulations for all e-bikes.

This is not a new fear. In 2024, we reported how manufacturers like Bosch and Brose were reinforcing their systems against tampering. At that time, Claus Fischer, head of Bosch, defined the 25 km/h limit as "our treasure," precisely because maintaining that consideration of a bicycle allows conventional e-bikes to remain outside the obligations of other motor vehicles.

The regulatory debate is also not new. Back in 2020, we reported that the European Commission was reviewing various aspects of the framework applicable to electric bicycles. Since then, the regulatory boundary remains essential: while a conventional EPAC stays within its legal limits, it maintains its status as a bicycle; when it exceeds them, it may be subject to the rules corresponding to other categories of vehicles.

This does not mean that there is currently a proposal from the European Union to require the registration and insurance of all conventional e-bikes. In fact, when Europe reformed its vehicle insurance regulations, it expressly decided to exclude electric bicycles from that general obligation. However, the possibility that an increase in modified, faster, or directly non-compliant vehicles could lead administrations to tighten the rules in the future is precisely one of the scenarios the industry has been trying to avoid for years.

For manufacturers, a regulation that brought conventional e-bikes closer to the moped regime —with insurance, registration, or other additional obligations— would introduce new barriers to access and could harm one of the main attractions of this type of bicycle: the ability to expand cycling possibilities while maintaining, as long as legal limits are respected, the status of a bicycle.

More safety, but also a matter of competition

The manifesto also incorporates an important economic component. European manufacturers invest in development, testing, certifications, traceability, quality controls, and after-sales service. ECI considers it unfair that they have to compete with products that are considerably cheaper precisely because their sellers evade part of those obligations.

According to data collected by ECI, the European cycling industry supports around 1.3 million jobs, contributes about 21 billion euros to the GDP of the European Union, and has more than 1,000 small and medium-sized enterprises within its supply chain. Therefore, the organization presents the problem not only from the road safety perspective but also from the competition, employment, and European industrial capacity perspective.

The final message of the new manifesto is quite clear: the industry wants to keep the electric bicycle within the framework that has favored its expansion, but to do so it considers it necessary to much more effectively separate legal e-bikes from those vehicles that merely resemble electric bicycles or that have been subsequently modified to exceed the established limits.