I recently had the privilege of spending some time in Japan. While there, I came across the Yamaha PAS. This electric bicycle is nothing less than the very origin of the European legislation governing not only EPACs, but all electric cycles. Back in 1999, the European institutions were drafting Directive 2002/24/EC on the type-approval of mopeds and motorcycles. They were determined to exclude electric bicycles, arguing that these vehicles did not belong in legislation designed for mopeds and motorcycles. At that time, electric bicycles were still in their infancy. The Yamaha PAS was then the most popular model, offering pedal assistance up to 25 km/h and a maximum rated power of 250W. And so the EU decided—without much reflection—to adopt those exact figures as the criteria for exclusion from the L-category. There was no in-depth analysis, no foresight for future developments, no serious consideration of the implications. It was an easy, almost casual decision.

In 1999, I was there, working for ETRA, the European trade association for bicycle dealers, to protest against this approach. My objections fell on deaf ears: 25 km/h and 250W would be the rule. Years later, when the EU prepared Regulation 168/2013, I was there again to protest. On behalf of ETRA, I argued for a broader exclusion: that all electrically pedal-assisted cycles with assistance up to 25 km/h should be exempt from type-approval, without any arbitrary motor output limit—because speed, not power, is the real determining safety factor. I also argued that all very light electric vehicles under 25 kg with a maximum design speed of 25 km/h should likewise be excluded, again on the basis that speed, not power, determines safety.

The IMCO Committee of the European Parliament was convinced. They adopted all of ETRA’s proposed amendments to broaden the scope of exclusion for LEVs. But then, at the very last moment, the European Cyclists’ Federation and CONEBI, the European trade association for the bicycle industry, intervened with their objections. They succeeded in swaying the Parliament to overturn the committee’s decision and reject all the amendments in the plenary vote.

Now, 26 years after my first attempt to secure better legislation for LEVs, we remain bound by the same outdated limits of 25 km/h and 250W. The result is that the development, market introduction, and deployment of LEVs are still severely hampered by legislation that is, quite simply, very, very, very outdated. The question we must ask is this: do we really want the EU market for LEVs, five years from now, to still look essentially like the Yamaha PAS of the 1990s?

Incidentally, Japan has moved forward in the field of light electric vehicles. Electric kei cars are omnipresent. These are small, lightweight cars to provide affordable, efficient mobility. They are limited by law in size, engine capacity, and power output, which makes them cheaper to buy, tax, and insure. Kei cars are popular in Japanese cities because they are easy to park, non-polluting, and often come with lower tolls and fees. Yet another thing which the EU hasn’t achieved: the creation of a proper legislative framework for micro-cars.

Europe is truly becoming a laggard in the world of sustainable mobility.

Annick Roetynck,
LEVA-EU Managing Director