Hoppy....as flecc has pointed out what you are refering to as e-bikes have more in common with motorised mopeds.....the bikes we all ride here are best refered to as electric bicycles....the chinese bikes are available at such places as the Canton Fair for about £150-£200,they are heavy with poor quality lead acid batteries,they need type approval here,do not meet EN15194,could not be rode on cycle tracks and need crash helmet,tax,insurance etc. But the most important point is that these are very poor quality construction...many of the e-bike manufacturers have 2 factories...Factory 1 produces non assisted bikes some as low as £38 for a Dahon copy(minimum order 2000 units) but to this you must add £10.00 for shipping and duty and 48% anti-dumping duty(normal bikes have 48% EU anti-dumping duty,e-bikes have 3.8% to 6% duty),the resultant price matches the £80 you can buy a bike in Halfords....Factory 1 also produces the worst e-bikes you have ever seen,they break down often,the batteries last about 6 months-to a chinese guy if it goes it's a good bike subtleties like lights and brakes are a luxury,if you were allowed to import these bikes the responsibility of sale of goods act and after sales problems would soon send any importer into liquidation to avoid the ongoing problems. Factory 2 is the electric bicycle factory and high end non assisted bikes (usually exported in parts,for assembly elsewhere to avoid the duty)...the difference is immediately noticeable,much higher quality of parts,quality control procedures....no Chinese would buy these bikes,their attitude is that bikes are for peasants,therefore must be cheap....if you can afford a Euro quality bike you would buy a car!
This story may amuse.....I am used to travelling in China,normally on the Eastern seaboard from Guangzhou up to Shanghai,occasionally to Tianjing....i had an e-bike seller who insisted they had a wonderful new e-bike,they were located near Nanchang,further west than my normal route and their bike was cheap. They picked me up from this brand new airport at Nanchang and drove 3 hours into the desert to a new town (sort of Milton Keynes with Neon),they put me in the Grand Hotel...brand new,still covered in builder's dust,no hot water,asian breakfast,concrete beds....I got up in the middle of night and saw this 20% built new town...some sort of obelisk,tall as nelson's column with neon rings running up n down....a modern theatre sort of gone wrong Rogers design and my hotel,nothing else. They picked me up in the morning to a brand new factory,probably £5million here....the place was 6 months old,never cleaned,builders dust everywhere,stickers still on the curtain wall glazing....they showed me the worst quality e-bike I had ever viewed,price less than $200 though,in 5 mins I put on my QC hat and identified 20 plus dangerous faults without trying hard....this story hoppy says all why the £250 chinese e-bikes will not be suitable to sell in Europe. Ok so whats amusing....to this day I don't have a clue where they took me,not even sure that the whole journey wasn't just a bad dream!
Dave
KudosCycles
