Author Archives: Annick Roetynck

About Annick Roetynck

Annick is the Manager of LEVA-EU, with decades of experience in two-wheeled and light electric mobility.

• Barcelona to temporarily ban e-scooters on public transport

  30/01/2023 14:19 Comments Off on Barcelona to temporarily ban e-scooters on public transport

  As of 1 February, e-scooters will no longer be allowed on public transport in Barcelona. The Metropolitan Transport Authority (AMB) announced the ban, which will last for 6 months, on 10 January 2023. The ban is being imposed for safety reasons. During that half year, a proposal will be drawn up to regulate the transport of e-scooters and other light electric vehicles.

  This work will be developed in partnership with several parties, responsible for the safety of the transport system, such as operators, firefighters, vehicle safety institutes, etc. In the meantime, e-scooters will not be allowed on buses, the metro, trains, nor in stations, even if folded. Anybody who violates the ban may be fined 200 euros.

  In this period, the provision of parking spaces for scooters will be promoted at railway stations and bus interchanges. The AMB has also announced the adaptation of the free bike lockers, Bicibox, for electric scooters.

  The temporary ban comes after the explosion of an e-scooter on a suburban train in November 2022. The incident happened in a moving train. The driver was forced to stop the train due to the fire that broke out inside the carriage.

  Five passengers had burns and inhaled toxic smoke, four of which had to be taken to hospital.The authorities blamed the highly toxic smoke on the battery.

  On 12 January 2023, just two days after the bans was decided, another e-scooter exploded inside an apartment in Barcelona, injuring fourteen people, six of which were taken to hospital.

  The temporary ban affects a considerable group of people, who for their daily commute use a combination of e-scooter and public transport.  In 2021, a Spanish newspaper reported more than 40,000 trips per day in Barcelona. They are paying a hefty price for the two incidents.

  Photo by Benjamin Voros on Unsplash

• New Machinery Regulation: adverse effects on Light Electric Vehicles Business

  13:04 Comments Off on New Machinery Regulation: adverse effects on Light Electric Vehicles Business

  End of last year, the European Parliament, Council and Commission reached an agreement on the future Machinery Regulation. Parliament and Council went against the Commission’s proposal to exclude all vehicles from the future legislation. That will have particularly adverse effects on electric cycles, e-scooters and self-balancing vehicles.

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  Originally, the Commission proposed to exclude all “vehicles which have as their only objective the transport of goods or persons by road, air, water of rail (…).” The justification was that Machinery legislation was “not meant to regulate risks other than those stemming from the machinery function (such as sawing, excavating, etc.) and not the risks exclusively relating to its transport function of persons or goods.” If they had been excluded, they would have come under the General Product Safety Directive (GPSD), just like conventional cycles. More importantly, this would only have been a temporary solution in anticipation of a specific Regulation for Light Electric Vehicles.

  Unnecessary Machinery Directive

  The intermediate solution of the GPSD would have been so much better for LEVs because this Directive only has very general requirements. In addition, there are already several European standards with specific technical safety requirements in place, i.e. the EN 15194 for EPACs, the EN 17128 for PLEVs (e-scooters & self-balancing vehicles) and the EN 17404 for EPAC mountain bikes. The fact that these vehicles present no structural safety risks shows that the standards offer adequate technical requirements and that the Machinery Directive is unnecessary to ensure that safety.

  On the contrary, in recent years, in standardisation it has become increasingly clear how much the current Machinery Directive is an obstacle to Light Electric Vehicles (LEVs). The Directive contains hazards that are totally irrelevant to LEVs, for instance noise, vibrations or protection against risks from moving parts.

  HAS consultants

  Originally, there were in-house CEN consultants, who worked together with the technical committees to ensure that the draft standards met the requirements of the Machinery Directive in the best possible way to maximize the chances of harmonization. The harmonization of standards under the Machinery Directive offers manufacturers presumption of conformity in case of a dispute, or worse, a court-case. This presumption of conformity is an important guarantee of legal certainty.

  With these in-house consultants, there was room to negotiate which requirements were relevant or not. One very important agreement for the EN 15194 (EPACs) for instance was that the requirements for moving parts were not relevant for cycle wheels. Without that agreement, the standard would have required all wheels to be covered.

  Since, the Commission has changed the system. They replaced the in-house consultants by so-called Harmonised Standards (HAS) consultants. The contract was outsourced to a private company, i.e. Ernst & Young. The task of these consultants is to support the Commission to verify whether the requirements for harmonisation are met. However, HAS consultants are no longer involved in the actual drafting processes and therefore technical committees can no longer make use of HAS consultants services to fill any potential gaps in the technical or legal expertise, nor to negotiate.

  Harmonisation impossible

  What’s worse for LEVs, HAS consultants make all Machinery Directive requirements applicable to LEVs, whether relevant are not. As a result, in the new system none of the LEV- standards has achieved harmonisation.  To this end, nonsensical tests should be introduced such as on the noise level the vehicles produce or on vibrations, which for LEVs obviously come from the road surface not from the vehicle itself. As for the future standards for electric cargocycles, it is already clear that no harmonisation will be requested because it is simply not feasible.

  The new Machinery Regulation will only exacerbate these issues. Indeed, the new legal text will now explicitly state that the Regulation applies only to risks arising from the machinery function, not the transport function. However, who will determine what is a machinery function and what is a transport function? In our view, LEVs don’t have machinery functions, only transport functions. That is exactly why the Commission thought it necessary to exclude them. Unfortunately, the European Parliament and Council literally twisted the Commission’s words, the result being an unworkable mess.

  Disastrous impact

  One party that argued hard to keep LEVs, more specifically electric bikes, in the new legal text was CONEBI, the trade association for the (electric) bike industry. We quote from their position paper: “The EU Machinery Directive is of high importance to the EU Bicycle Industry as it legislates the essential health and safety requirements relating to the design and construction of electrically power assisted cycles (EPACs). The fact that EPACs are within the scope of the Machinery Directive was officially acknowledged in the first Edition of the Guide to Application of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC of December 2009.”

  CONEBI clearly does not question the adequacy of the essential health and safety machinery requirements for EPACs. Also, the CONEBI memory is somewhat lacking here. in 2006, yours truly and a representative of CONEBI (called COLIBI at that time) had a meeting with the Commission to ask if there was still any chance of avoiding the Machinery Directive for electric bicycles excluded from type-approval. In other words, originally CONEBI was not in favour of having electric bikes in the Machinery Directive. Their current efforts to keep EPACs in the new Machinery Regulation clearly shows that the association has no understanding of the impact on standardisation for EPACs AND for other light, electric vehicles, nor of the consequences for the businesses concerned. Hopefully their understanding will grow as the disastrous impact of the new legislation on LEVs becomes a reality. In the meantime, LEVA-EU will continue its efforts for a specific LEV-Regulation designed in consultation with the LEV-business for the LEV-business.

  Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash

• Alligt gives Bike2’s pedal generator a new life

  09:34 Comments Off on Alligt gives Bike2’s pedal generator a new life

  Alligt, Dutch manufacturer of plastic wheels and parts for cargocycles and velocars, is giving Bike2’s pedal generator a new chance. Even though the Danish company has invested a lot of energy in the concept over the past 12 years, they have ultimately not yet managed to bring a finished product to market. Maybe they were too far ahead of their time. LEVA-EU Member Alligt was among one of their first customers and worked with Bike2 to test the pedal generator. Alligt and Bike2 recently entered into an agreement that allows Alligt to continue the work. Bike2 can expect a market-based royalty to compensate for their investment over the past 12 years.

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  Through the agreement, Alligt acquires Bike2’s patent and can relaunch the human serial hybrid pedal generator. This concept offers a very suitable solution for cargo bikes. Alligt knows the cargo bike market well, having acquired a very extensive network with the development and production of plastic cargo wheels. Alligt managing director, Leo Visscher, is convinced that many of those companies are interested in a low-maintenance drive system. “Those who don’t think a plastic wheel is crazy will undoubtedly not find a pedal generator an absurd idea either,” Leo says.

  The product is a pedal drive in which a bicycle’s chain is replaced by an electric clutch with optimal chain feel, supplemented by energy from a battery. Alligt believes this product can encourage healthy exercise by riding a lightweight vehicle. Alligt also thinks that the pedal generator contributes to safety. The system still requires the cyclist to pedal at a reasonable rate to achieve efficient acceleration and speed. Alligt believes that a maximum acceleration of 1.5 m/s2 is a good limit for all vehicles on the road. The system also allows people with very little muscle power to propel themselves independently. Moreover, this system allows you to pedal yourself warm in cold weather.

  It is now clear that the market for serial hybrid systems in cargocycles and velocars is really taking off. The advantages of this system for cargocycles and velocars include good control of the vehicle, which is even more important in urban areas, and the design freedom created by omitting the chain. In addition, the system allows for riding in reverse, even regenerating energy via the motor.

  In order to bring Bike2’s bottom bracket generator to the market, quite an effort is still needed, especially regarding available components and adaptation of the software for a new prototype. This new prototype could be tested with the Golo cargo bike from LEVA-EU Member Flevobike, another Dutch company that has been cooperating for years to improve the pedal generator. After initial testing with the Golo, a Beta version could be tested widely in the market. However, this plan requires additional investments.

  Therefore, Alligt is looking for partners interested in financial support and/or partners interested in producing the system. Alligt is already convinced of the potential of the Bike2 system. The number of suppliers of serial hybrid systems is still quite limited. Moreover, the system is suitable for various target groups, not only for cargocycles, but for instance also for hometrainers or for bikes for users with physical problems.

  Should a major party be interested in taking over this project in its entirety from Alligt, that too is negotiable. Alligt’s objective in taking over the patent was to bring more pedal generators to the market for different target groups and make them available to small innovative companies. Fifty per cent of such a take-over will go to Esquare, the company behind bike2.dk.

  More information can be found at Alligt.nl. Their Cargobike wheels can be seen at cargobike-wheels.com cargobike-wheels.com. For further details, please contact leovisscherkorver@gmail.com.

• Netherlands breaks own law; LEVA-EU asks to check national and EU legality LEV-Framework

  24/01/2023 13:20 Comments Off on Netherlands breaks own law; LEVA-EU asks to check national and EU legality LEV-Framework

  LEVA-EU has already repeatedly questioned the legality of the Dutch LEV-framework. Following yet another consultation, the trade association for LEV-companies is doing exactly that once again. In the consultation, the Dutch government proposes legal amendments for the purpose of the LEV-framework that can be described as bizarre, to say the least. The consultation has also shown how the Netherlands breaks its own law.

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  For some time already, the Netherlands have been developing a new legal framework for light, electric vehicles, knows as the LEV-framework. This will include Dutch technical requirements for electric cargocycles with pedal assistance up to 25 km/h and 250W, for e-scooters and self-balancing vehicles with handlebars. The Dutch government has already organised numerous consultations and studies on this issue, but consistently ignores entering into direct dialogue with the manufacturers, distributors and users of these vehicles.

  Recently, another such consultation was concluded. In the process, the government is twisting itself into peculiar legal corners to get the LEV-framework incorporated into law. In a response to the consultation, LEVA-EU again fundamentally questioned the legality of the Dutch plan.

  Stint accident

  The Dutch LEV-framework was launched as a direct response to the fatal Stint accident in 2018. What is peculiar about this is that the framework is meant for vehicles that have no relation with the Stint. Moreover, no cause could ever be established for the accident. This raises the question as to what problems this LEV-framework is meant to solve and whether it is an effective solutions to those unknown problems. Of course, the LEV-framework has to show that the political response to the Stint accident is decisive, whilst the electric cargocycles, e-scooters and self-balancing vehicles without steering are paying the price.

  In the latest consultation, the Dutch government presented its concrete plans to adapt the regulations for the integration of the new LEV framework. In doing so, the government is making some particularly peculiar bucks. The Dutch regulations currently stipulate that vehicles may only enter the market or trade if they have been approved to do so. That approval may be based on European type-approval or on a national type-approval among other things.

  Breach of own law!

  Electric (cargo) cycles 25km/h – 250W, e-scooters and self-balancing vehicles are excluded from European type-approval by Article 2.2 of Regulation 168/2013. This makes them subject to the Machinery Directive, which stipulates with Art. 6.1: “Member States shall not prohibit, restrict or impede placing on the market and/or putting into service in their territory of machinery which complies with this Directive.” Seemingly based on this article, the Netherlands has stipulated in Art. 3.10.1(d) of the Vehicles Regulation that vehicles referred to in Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) 168/2013 are not subject to any approval. And so, over the past few years, millions of pedal-assisted cycles up to 25 km/h and 250W have been allowed on Dutch roads without approval. Quite rightly so, because there are no structural safety problems with these vehicles. All other EU member states do exactly the same and everywhere the framework of the Machinery Directive, supplemented by the EN 15194 standard appears to be sufficient to guarantee safe vehicles. However, the Netherlands does one thing for electric bikes, but something completely different for scooters and self-balancing vehicles. These are not allowed on public roads today, unless they obtain special Dutch approval to do so. Worse, self-balancing vehicles without steering are banned altogether. Conclusion: the Netherlands is currently violating its own legislation!

  Tricks

  With the LEV-framework, the Netherlands wants to chisel that approval into law, not only for e-scooters and self-balancing vehicles with steering, but also for pedal assisted e-cargocycles up to 25 km/h and 250W! For that approval, the Dutch government want to introduce a national type-approval broadly like Regulation 168/2013. For a clear understanding of the issue, these are vehicles which, on the one hand, are clearly excluded from that Regulation by Art. 2.2. On the other hand, the Dutch government wants to introduce a type-approval that is copied from that Regulation.  National type-approvals are not permitted by Regulation 168/2013. It clearly only allows national type-approval of small series or individual vehicles. This Dutch type-approval is neither of these.

  In order to subject e-scooters and self-balancing vehicles to approval, the Dutch government is performing a most peculiar trick. The aforementioned Art. 3.10.1(d) of the Vehicles Regulation will be amended in such a way that no longer all vehicles under Art. 2.2 of Regulation 168/2013 will be excluded from approval, but only those under points b, d, e, f, g and h. Thus, vehicles under (i) self-balancing vehicles and under (j) vehicles without a saddle will come under the obligation of approval by means of a national type-approval.

  Discrimination e-cargocycles vs e-bikes

  The same trick cannot, of course, be applied to electric cargocycles. Those fall under point (h) of Art. 2.2 of Regulation 168/2013. But that point also covers two-wheeled e-bikes 25 km/h – 250W. In the consultation, the Dutch government made no mention of how they will get round the legal exemption of cargocycles from the approval to subsequently introduce an approval requirement for these vehicles. Moreover, by introducing specific, technical rules for e-cargocycles, the Netherlands completely ignores the fact that European standards for these vehicles are currently being developed within CEN TC333 – WG9. Even more peculiar in the knowledge that the secretariat of WG9 is observed by the Dutch standardization institute NEN. Seems a woeful waste of Dutch taxpayers’ money.

  The technical rules for national approval have been developed by RDW, the public authority responsible for vehicle registration. RDW also acts as a type-approval service. Allowing RDW to both deciding on the rules and checking compliance makes them both judge and jury, not quite a democratic solution. LEVA-EU also questions whether it is in line with Dutch and/or EU competition rules to give RDW a monopoly on approving the vehicles.

  LEVA-EU’s request

  In its response to the consultation, LEVA-EU has urged the Dutch government to verify the legality of this proposal with the European Commission. LEVA-EU also asks to clarify the legal basis for a treatment of e-cargocycles, which is completely different from other electric bikes excluded from Regulation 168/2013 following Art. 2.2. Finally, LEVA-EU also considers it necessary to review RDW’s future monopoly on checking and granting approval for legality with NMA and DG Comp.

  To be continued, no doubt.

  The LEVA-EU response to the Dutch consultation is here: https://bit.ly/3H4941i (Dutch only)

• LEVA-EU welcomes new Policy Officer

  13/01/2023 11:46 Comments Off on LEVA-EU welcomes new Policy Officer

  

  LEVA-EU is very pleased to announce that, today, Bernardo Ruiz de Temiño has started working for LEVA-EU as Junior Policy Officer.

  Before joining LEVA-EU, he did a 7-month internship for a Member of the European Parliament and a 5-month internship in the Brussels office of the Spanish Lawyers’ Association.

  His hometown is Zaragoza in Spain, where he studied law and lived until 2021.

  Bernardo can be contacted at bernardo@leva-eu.com, tel. +32 927 84 546

• Preliminary agreement on new EU Batteries Regulation

  19/12/2022 16:16 Comments Off on Preliminary agreement on new EU Batteries Regulation

  On 9 December, Council, Parliament and Commission have reached an agreement on the draft text for a new EU Regulation on Batteries. Although LEVA-EU has won a few battles, it is too early to claim victory yet.

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  The new EU law will have a very considerable impact on batteries for light, electric vehicles (LEVs) and on the LEV-sector as a whole. The agreed compromise is not available yet and still needs official approval from Parliament and Council, but this is what we know so far:

  • Thanks in part to the work of LEVA-EU, the text holds a separate category for what is called batteries for light means of transport (LMT). With reservation, we quote the definition of that category as follows: “LMT battery means any battery that is sealed and weighs below or equal to 25 kg, designed to provide electric power for the traction to wheeled vehicles that can be powered by the electric motor alone or by a combination of motor and human power including type-approved vehicle of category L in the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 168/2013, and that is not an electric vehicle battery.“
  • LEV-batteries of more than 25 kg will come under the category of electric vehicle batteries.
  • The law will have rates for the collection of end-of-life LMT-batteries. Partly thanks to LEVA-EU, this rate will be calculated based on batteries “available for collection” (AfC), rather than batteries “put on market“.
  • The new legislation will introduce extended and rigorous sustainability requirements. LEVA-EU has consistently and repeatedly protested these sustainability requirements for LMT-batteries. They would be imposed on LMT-batteries without the Commission having first conducted an impact assessment. Seemingly, the three authorities have agreed to maintain the 2 kW limit for some of these sustainability requirements. Until the compromise text is available, we are unable to determine for which requirements the limit has been retained.

  All in all, LEVA-EU’s position has been broadly observed. Let’s hope the devil will not be in the details. Next year, the text will be submitted to the Plenary of the European Parliament and to the 27 Member States for final approval.

• SMEs and accessibility standards

  15/12/2022 11:32 Comments Off on SMEs and accessibility standards

  Approximately 87 million people in the EU are affected by a disability or some kind of limitation that affects their daily lives and restricts them from performing everyday tasks. But ultimately accessibility is relevant to all of us, since we all can potentially become temporarily or permanently disabled, and all of us experience a reduction in our functional abilities as we age.

  The European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882) was adopted in 2019 and aims to make certain everyday products and services accessible for persons with disabilities and to improve the way the internal market functions in this area. The Directive is a result of the commitment to accessibility made by the EU and all Member States upon ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

  Member States had to put in place the necessary provisions at national level to implement the Directive by June 2022. The Act lays out a minimum set of accessibility requirements for a range of products and services such as computers and operating systems, telephones and smartphones, passenger transport-related services, TV equipment, emergency services or e-commerce. Understandably, given their increasing importance in terms of communication and participation in the economy, digital technologies are the focus of the European Accessibility Act. The Directive also foresees the possibility for Member States to adopt requirements in relation to accessibility of the built environment.

  Businesses selling products and services covered by the Act will have until June 2025 to ensure that these comply with the common EU accessibility requirements. An exemption is foreseen for microenterprises providing services.
  On 22 November, SBS organised a webinar aimed at raising awareness among SMEs and SME organisations of the Accessibility Act and the related standardisation work. The Directive foresees the use of harmonised standards as a possible means to ensure that products and services conform with its requirements, and the Commission has issued a series of Standardisation Requests, one of them quite recently, asking for the development of such standards.

  SMEs are very often involved in both the production of technological solutions and in services for elderly persons and people with disabilities. Participating in standardisation is important for SMEs to be able to influence the framework within which they must operate, a point emphasised by SBS expert Rudolph Brynn during the webinar.

  Mr Brynn is an accessibility expert at SBS and works for a company that provides advice on universal building and outdoor design, digital accessibility and usability, and legislation and standards. He presented the SBS’ activities in this context and pointed out important aspects that SMEs should know about and the potential impact they might have on them.

  The other webinar speaker was Ms Inmaculada Placencia Porrero, Senior Expert in the European Commission’s social affairs unit, responsible for Disability and Inclusion. She provided an overview of the Disability Act, its objectives, and its main provisions.
  The European Commission recently issued a Standardisation request (M/587) to CEN, CENELEC and ETSI to develop three new standards and revise existing ones related to the accessibility of ICT products and services and their procurement, accessibility of the built environment, design for all, and accessibility of emergency communications, support services and non-digital product information.

  You can find the webinar presentation material here.

• LEVA-EU Technical Director, Bram Rotthier, wins standardization award

  28/11/2022 15:24 Comments Off on LEVA-EU Technical Director, Bram Rotthier, wins standardization award

  “Our experts work all year round to help shape standards. In all possible fields. Our society and economy reap the benefits of this,” said NBN President Johan Haelterman. “We therefore consider it very important to thank the people working behind the scenes and to give them the recognition they deserve.“

  For the sixth time, the Belgian standardization organization, NBN organized its Thank-You-Event on Thanksgiving Day. In Bozar in Brussels, four Belgian experts and 1 NBN partner were honoured during this festive evening. They received an award for their efforts in the development and promotion of standards.

  The highlight of the evening was the award ceremony. Five Belgian professionals were allowed to take the stage and one of them was LEVA-EU’s technical director, Bram Rotthier. He very deservedly won the award in the category “young experts”.

  Bram (32) is not only technical director at LEVA-EU. He is also head of the department energy technology at Odisee University College and father of two young children. Despite his very full schedule, he manages to also dedicate a considerable amount of his time to standardization. As chairman of BEC TC125, the technical committee for Personal e-Transporters (PeTs), he is closely involved in the development of standards for electrically powered means of transport. He also collaborates as an expert on standards for cycles at the European and international level. Some of the international meetings require him to get up in the middle of the night. Bram lectures annually to energy technology students at Odisee University of Applied Sciences on standards development. He is active as a standards expert in IEC TC125, CEN TC333, and ISO TC149.

  A deep-rooted belief in the potential of light electric vehicles inspires Bram. He demonstrates this not only by word but also by deed as he commutes by speed-pedelec over a distance of 80 km. LEVA-EU is very grateful to Bram for all his hard and excellent work.

• The Unitary Patent system: a game-changer for innovation in Europe

  25/11/2022 12:45 Comments Off on The Unitary Patent system: a game-changer for innovation in Europe

  The long-awaited entry into operation of the Unitary Patent system in spring 2023 will mark the dawning of a new era for IP in Europe and the fostering of innovation across the continent.

  As an additional element of the European patent system, the Unitary Patent system will be of particular benefit to start-ups and SMEs and will eventually enable them to obtain protection in up to 25 EU Member States by filing a single application with the EPO. What’s more, with the creation of the Unified Patent Court, the new system will remove the last remaining obstacles to the EU’s single market, thus helping to strengthen the European technology market.

  On 17 November, EPO has organized a conference on the Unitary Patent System. Through a series of lectures and panel discussions the conference was aimed at presenting insight into the Unitary Patent system from a number of perspectives and evaluating its advantages for entrepreneurs and innovating businesses. High‑level speakers from the European Commission, the European Patent Office and the Belgian government as well as representatives from innovative SMEs, academia and the judiciary discussed the various avenues that the Unitary Patent system will open up for IP protection, as well as its potential to boost innovation across Europe.

  The conference video is available here: The Unitary Patent system –a game-changer for innovation in Europe – YouTube