Help! How do they enforce legal max power?
- Thread starter anonymous
- Start date
Provided the battery weights under a tonne, no problem
Situation is very technical and the motor power rating is determined by its power rating over an hours average power output and the temperature rise in the windings.
I don't think there is a legal limit on battery size (physical or electrical capacity).
As soundwave says, they are very unlikely to police motor power or maximum assisted speed unless something goes wrong; especially if you are involved in a serious accident.
They might if you are obviously break the law on speed, though soundwave has tried that and not been caught (yet).
As soundwave says, they are very unlikely to police motor power or maximum assisted speed unless something goes wrong; especially if you are involved in a serious accident.
They might if you are obviously break the law on speed, though soundwave has tried that and not been caught (yet).
There is no active enforcement. Manufacturers are expected to make their bikes compliant with technical standard EN15194. The way that is worded actually allows much more than 250 watts anyway, machines only have to capable of continuously delivering 250 watts and exceeding that isn't ruled out. They do have to be limited to 25 kph within EU countries though. They are also supposed to be labelled by the maker with some essential details for any authority to see, though many if not most are not labelled and no-one does anything about that.
The capacity of a battery makes no difference to the speed, though a higher voltage battery than specified can often increase it.
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Sure. I thought that the battery itself had to be limited in terms of speed. I'd really like a foldable bike with a decent battery, and it appears most only support 30 miles of range
30mph but the problem is it has peddles so that power could be coming from me.
tho if ur going 80mph down the road they then might pull you over if they could catch you
The battery capacity in Ampere-Hours (Ah) can be increased as much as you like to increase the range, even having two identical batteries in parallel to double the range. What you must not do though is increase the voltage to make one break the assist speed limit. In addition there is a nominal 48 volt limit on e-bike batteries for safety reasons.
Range tends to be limited on folders for weight reasons, not much use having a long range battery if the folder can't be picked up because it's too heavy.
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For me, I'd honestly just want to store it somewhere safe ie: my car boot... That's the only reason for wanting a foldable bike
Most bike batteries are easily removable; so you could have two small ones with a folder for extra range. As flecc mentions above you can even use two in parallel, but that isn't as straightforward as it might be. If you did you own conversion of a folder you could buy a big battery (as long as it fitted).
A legal battery is 48v tops. There has been some discussion here whether that means 48v nominative or 48v maximum. All 48v nominative batteries charge to 54.6v or therabouts.
Battery voltage is easy to enforce, the testing person just needs a volt meter.
Speed is easy to enforce the police just need a speed camera.
The best way then is to buy an extra battery when you buy the bike. I've ridden with three batteries at times, one in use and one in each pannier. That way you can have more range then you really want to use in one ride.
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Not quite right my good friend. That is a pass/fail test to make sure the motor isn't over-rated., i.e. a 1000w motor will pass the 250w test. There is no test for the motor's power, and the rating is arbitrary - whatever the manufacturer says it is on the label.
The only thing the police can do is check the speed at which the motor cuts off. They can't really do that at the roadside, but they could send it for testing if you were involved in an accident. For the power, all they can do is ask you what it is or look at any label or plate on your motor or bike.
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You can buy one "off the shelf" from any good dealer, have one made to measure in the UK or Germany, make your own... Li-Ion batteries are "everywhere".
I feel that it depends more heavily on the gearing from the pedals, on my Derailleur bikes, I myself could not turn the pedals fast enough to achieve anywhere near 30MPH. Even just 20MPH (with a hill, its far too much of an effort to even"stay in contact"....30mph but the problem is it has peddles so that power could be coming from me.
tho if ur going 80mph down the road they then might pull you over if they could catch you
I expect there are are replacement cassettes and pedal gears that will allow a more comfortable higher speed, for derailleur types.
Perhaps someone here might mention that, but talking generally, I do not expect a "legal" bike to have such high speed gears and cranks installed for derailleur types as standard, but road racing bikes get to 0MPH I have heard, and no motor.....so it might be possible for such race parts to be grafted on?
Possibly bikes with a middle motor, are maybe already geared for higher speeds, and lower pedal revolutions, but I have never ridden one.
Regards
Andy
It sounds like your gearing is too low. There are plenty of options to make it more comfortable. Tell us or show us what you have if you want suggestions.
I don't think I can pedal at 20mph on the flat on my bike; more effort than cadence though. I could keep up pedalling cadence at 20mph in top gear downhill. That doesn't mean my gearing is too low; I don't really want to travel at 20mph on the flat, or to pedal downhill. I think maybe Andy feels the same?
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