Tag Archive: LEVA-EU

  1. Tübingen Develops Speed Pedelec Network

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    The City of Tübingen has opened its first bike lane for speed pedelecs. That is the start of a complete speed pedelec network, which will be further developed in the next few months.

    Speed pedelecs may ride to their full potential (‘’freie Fahrt’’) in a bicycle tunnel between Haagtor and the Aleenbrücke which is in the inner city of Tübingen. Due to a change in the regulation, a special road sign has been created with the inscription ‘’S-Pedelec-Frei’’. This sign is placed by order of the mayor at the tunnel’s entrances and distinguishes itself from another road sign with the inscription of maximum 30 km/h.

    The Ministry of Transport of the Baden-Württemberg region had to officially acknowledge the road sign proposal made by the mayor of Tübingen. From now on, it must be clarified whether you can ride your speed pedelec up to a speed of 30 km/h or 45 km/h. Everyone is benefitting from this clarification, not only speed pedelecs but also other cyclists. ‘’Tübingen is probably the first municipality in BW or even nationwide, to have such regulation’’, mayor Boris Palmer explained. To our knowledge this sign is the first in the world!

    The mayor continues: ‘’Inaccurate traffic regulations for speed pedelecs hampered the uptake of this vehicle. So far, only +- 1% of all e-bikes being sold are speed pedelecs in Germany. For comparison, in our neighbouring country Switzerland,  20% of all commuters use a speed pedelec.”  By creating better conditions, the mayor hopes to encourage the use of speed pedelecs: ‘’A speed pedelec is a sustainable mode of transport and can help to reduce traffic congestion in our city.”

    Tübingen will be developing a connected network for speed pedelecs, making it possible to cross the city from various directions on attractive routes. In the following months, 80 road signs need to be installed along the network to achieve this goal. As a road user, you can check on the city’s website how much progression has been made yet.

    In preparation of this remarkable change, the mayor has been consulting with the Ministries of Berlin and Stuttgart since 2013. He pointed out that this change is overdue and should have been implemented way earlier. He concludes: ‘’The argument that speed pedelecs do not belong on bike lanes because they can go up to 45 km/h is just not fair. Take the example of allowing a Porsche in zone 30 areas although they could theoretically drive 300 km/h.”

    Source: article in German

    Photo credits: Elektrobike-online

  2. China Trip Offers Dealers Better & Deeper Understanding Chinese E-Bike Business

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    On Sunday 10 November, the participants in the E-Bike Dealer Trip to China, organized by LEVA-EU and Nieuwsfiets.nu were back in Amsterdam. It was a fantastic trip, highly appreciated by each and every participant. One of them stated: “It is impossible to explain to someone who hasn’t been there, how interesting and exciting this trip has been.

    TIMYO | First visit was to Timyo in Nantong. The factory is rather quiet nowadays, since production moved to Lithuania and the Netherlands (Roosendaal) as a result of the anti-dumping measures. In Nantong, the production is currently only for the Australian market. Timyo is active on the EU market with several brand names: VanDijck, Keola, Muon and Elon. Jan de Jong assists owner Steve Zhu and his family to shape and manage the trade and to position the brands in the EU.

    De Jong presented the company and tried to enter into a dialogue with the dealers. He asked many questions, such as how dealers deal with developments in internet sales. “Through your shop, you have your own local network and you are much closer to your customer than internet vendors, who have to put in much more effort to develop customer relations. A web store cannot function without brick and mortar shops. Would you ever consider working with them?”, was one of the questions he asked.

    According to one of the dealers, staff is one of the biggest bottlenecks. “As an entrepreneur you may come up with brilliant ideas, it is still up to your staff to implement those ideas. Not everyone is equally good at everything. It is extremely difficult to get your staff completely on the same wavelength as yourself.

    After the Timyo-tour, the group went on electric bikes to visit two other factories. Wuhu produces high-quality decals for many different EU (e)bike brands. A-Forge is a metalworking company that produces preformed frame tubes. The group was shown how a frame tube for an integrated battery takes shape. Frome there, the group cycled through an impressive, new park to a temple on a mountain top, which offered breath-taking views of the Yangtze river.

    Steve Zhu had invited a group of local businesspeople to join the European group for a diner at the factory. This turned out to be an extremely pleasant evening, which was spectacularly concluded with Chinese fireworks.

    PHYLION & BAFANG | The next day of the journey led to Phylion, a large battery manufacturer, active in four sectors and for whom light electric vehicles are an important segment. They produce batteries for among others Accell, Cycleurope, Cortina and Stella. Phylion produces both cells and packs. The group was shown step by step how batteries are created, from a single cell to a complete battery in its casing; a complicated process that still involves a lot of manual work.

    Last on the agenda in Suzhou was Bafang Electric. The night before, Bafang had invited the group for dinner in one of the most famous restaurants in town. The Bafang team was extremely welcoming and, after the pizza lunch, took the group on a factory tour. Since the 2016 dealer trip, it was apparent that the production process had undergone many changes. It is more automated, using fewer people, although there is still a lot of meticulous manual work mainly done by women. Bafang is known for the many checks during and after production to keep the quality as constant as possible. In the company presentation, it was announced that Bafang intends to invest more in dealer knowledge through training. It is not yet clear how they plan on tackling this, but it is a fact that they will implement a dealer policy.

    Finally, the group had the opportunity to test ride all kinds of bicycles. The racing bike with the Bafang M800 proved to be the most popular model and convinced everybody that there is indeed a market for electric racing bikes.

    TAILG | On Thursday, the first visit was to TAILG, to the bicycle factory in Shenzhen and the scooter factory in Guangdong. Both factories were huge, producing 3 million vehicles on an annual basis. The Dutch company Buzaglo has recently entered into a partnership with TAILG. More news on this collaboration, which only concerns electric bicycles, not scooters, is soon to come.

    The TAILG Group started in 2004 as a designer and manufacturer of electric vehicles, not only e-bikes but also e-scooters, e-tricycles and e-motorcycles. For years they have mainly focused on the Chinese home market, which explains why the name TAILG is hardly known in Europe. But that should change now, since TAILG joined the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) in March 2019 to promote clean mobility in large parts of the world. In the meantime, 31% of TAILG’s production is still for the home market. The rest is sold outside China, with a 24% share for Europe followed by North America (19%), South America (13%) and Africa (10%). TAILG is definitely a name to keep in mind.

    WORLDPOWER | After the visit to TAILG, the bus headed to WorldPower, a medium-sized battery manufacturer from Shenzhen, who is determined to grow its business in the electric bike sector. The company name is formally Shenzhen World Electronic Co. Ltd.; they claim to be one of the first battery manufacturers in China. They started in 2002 but the production of their WorldPower batteries is in full swing since 2009. Founder Peter Liu initially produced batteries for medical equipment, garden tools and later also for electric bicycles. From the outset, they have consistently chosen to focus on overseas markets, because the home market is all about low-priced products. To WorldPower, the European and American markets are much more important because there is a higher demand for good quality batteries. WorldPower is currently working to increase their market share in Europe, especially in Germany, Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands.

    DAHON | Friday was the last day of factory visits, starting at the new sales office of folding bike manufacturer Dahon in Shenzhen. Unfortunately, the factory could not be visited because Dahon is in the middle of a transformation phase. We were welcomed at the brand-new sales office, which was largely operational, but where not all moving boxes had been unpacked yet. Dahon owner and founder Dr. David Hon, guided the group whilst telling fascinating stories about the history of Dahon and the successes achieved in the past. He also talked about Dahon’s innovative product lines, such as the electric scooter, of which there are two variants. One is fully automatic and the second only functions with pedalling, basically the same principle as with an e-bike.

    Dr Hon also explained a recent policy change at Dahon. Whilst previously, they mainly produced for themselves under the Dahon brand name, they now also seek collaboration with the industry, allowing other brands to apply Dahon technology on their own bicycles. Upon the presentation, the group went outside for test rides with several folding bicycles and e-scooters. As usual, the group was very eager to try out the variety of vehicles. After lunch, jointly offered by Dahon and Missile Bike, the group went on to their last company visit.

    MISSILE BIKE – Hugo Xuguo is the owner of the Shenzhen Sanding Vehicle Co. frame factory. Ltd., which also markets the sporting bicycle brand Missile Bike on the home market. It was not surprising that he and David Hon offered lunch together to the participants of the China trip, because the two entrepreneurs are close friends. In fact, Xuguo even worked at Dahon in the past.

    As a professional Chinese sports bike brand, Missile has been committed to designing, developing and developing sports bicycles for almost ten years. Missile offers a variety of steel, alloy, titanium and carbon frames for sports and leisure bikes, seemingly very popular on the home market. Missile is sold in all provinces and cities of China and in more than 10 countries around the world.

    Since the founding of Missile, the company also supports various charities. The “Misell Fund” was established in 2013 to help poor students, poor elderly people and other people in need of help.

    MOTINOVA | Missile also provided some other companies with an opportunity to present their products. The most interesting of these was unmistakably Motinova, which recently opened a factory for e-bike systems in Vietnam and will also enter the European market. Test drives left the dealers surprised about the driving behaviour and the support of these silent e-bike mid-motors.

    SIGHTSEEING HONG KONG | Last stop was Hong Kong, where the group of participants was treated by the Royal Pacific & Towers Hotel to an upgrade. The hotel is located right in the centre of Hong Kong, within walking distance of all famous shops. On the penultimate evening of the dealer trip, In the evening, the group was welcomed by Charles Drapers from cycling bag producer Pointed NV (Willex). He took the group to the famous Peak, which offers an amazing view of Hong Kong. The sight is impressive during the day, but in the evening, with so many buildings illuminated, it is absolutely breath-taking.

    Drapers, who has been living in Hong Kong for 25 years, is an inexhaustible fount of knowledge about the city. He can take you to places and tell you stories, which you will never find in any tourist guide. All travel companions were in absolute awe of the unique insight he offered into this fascinating place. This was a beautiful ending to a highly inspiring and enjoyable trip. The participants were clearly highly impressed by China in general as well as by the companies they visited. They stated on several occasions that their preconceptions were not exactly in line with reality and that this trip had given them a far better and deeper understanding of the e-bike business in China. Mission accomplished!

    Arnauld Hackmann

  3. Bafang IPO in Shanghai

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    On November 11th, Bafang Electric (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. debuted on the main board in Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE). 30 million Bafang (BFGF) shares (stock code: 603489) were issued on the capital market, accounting for 25% of the total share capital after release, with an opening price of 43.44 Yuan/share. As of closing day November 11, Bafang’s share price went up 43.99% to hit the daily trading limit of 62.55 Yuan.

    The total fund raised is 1.303 billion Yuan (186m US-$ / 168m €), and the net fund raised after deducting issuing expenses is 1.238 billion Yuan. With the funds raised, investment will be made in a variety of areas including the production and construction of electric motors and control systems for EPACs (electrically power assisted cycles, also called “pedelecs”) and the projected production of Li-ion batteries. Further investment will also be made in international marketing projects, replenishing the working capital and in the company’s technical center (R&D department) located at its headquarter

    For the complete press release go to this link: Bafang press release

  4. New French E-scooter Rules

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    Since 25 October, France has introduced new rules for non-type-approved personal light electric vehicles (PLEVs). According to a spokesperson of the French Ministry of Transport, driving forces behind this revision was the lack of a well-designed legal status for these vehicles and safety concerns on public roads.

    Focus of the revision are rules for e-scooters, however they will also apply to hoverboards, monowheels and self-balancing vehicles. As a result, these vehicles now have a legal status in the French highway code (Décret n° 2019-1082, art. 10). This status results in rules on place on the road, parking, technical requirements and sanctions in case of infringement.

    The following rules apply since 25 October 2019.

    • A minimum age of 12 years for using these vehicles
    • A maximum design speed of 25 km/h when used on public roads
    • Only one rider per device
    • Using a mobile phone and/or headphones while driving is forbidden
    • Driving on pavements is forbidden, however parking is allowed
    • PLEVs in urban areas can go either on cycle paths or on the road, provided the maximum speed is no more than 50 km/h. Outside urban areas, they must go on cycle paths.
    • Using a helmet is recommended but not obligatory.
    • Riders must wear reflective clothing during the day in case of reduced visibility and at night
    • Individual owners of PLEVs must undertake an insurance. Owners of a free-floating sharing system must underwrite an insurance for their customers.

    Furthermore, some technical requirements come into force on 1 July 2020. From that date on, every e-scooter needs to comply with the following requirements:

    • Front- and rear lights
    • Rear & side retro reflection
    • A bell
    • A braking system

    Disobeying the new rules could results in a fine of up to €1,500 if your e-scooter has a design speed of more than 25 km/h. More than one person on your e-scooter results in a fine of €35 or €135 in case of driving on pavements.

    The link to the legal revision is here: link to Official Journal of France.

    Sources: Link to Official Journal of France & Overview of the revision & BBC

    Photo credits: pixabay

  5. Taiwan E-bike Sector News

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    Taiwan’s Ministry of finance reported staggering export numbers of its e-bike industry. The industry exported a volume of 452,000 e-bikes in the first 9 months of 2019, which is a growth of 131.4% compared to last year. Just as the volume, the total value has grown remarkably to $591 billion (€530 billion), resulting in a plus of 119.51%. However, the average price of a Taiwanese e-bike dropped to 1,307.59$ (€1.175), a 5,2% down compared to last year.

    Biggest importer of e-bikes from Taiwan is the Netherlands, who replaced the USA this year. When combining both conventional and e-bike  exports from Taiwan, the Netherlands is the biggest customer, followed by the USA, Germany, United Kingdom and Spain.

    Sources: Bikebiz & Bike-EU

    Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash

  6. Rad Power Bikes News

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    LEVA-EU Member Rad Power Bikes has created a digital home for ebike news, culture and Rad Stories.  It is called The Scenic Route, to discover things that can inspire and empower ebike riders, whether it’s technical advice from their resident team of experts or the adventures of fellow Rad riders. Rad Power Bikes strives to tell stories about a world where transportation is energy-efficient, enjoyable, and accessible to all.

    Most recently, they have put the spotlight on Chris Douglas, a longtime Radvocate who made a decision that saved another man’s life.

    Subscribe to The Scenic Route to hear more about Douglas, learn about how to prep your drivetrain for winter, and get updates on all things Rad.

  7. Thüringen calls for ban on e-scooters with non-replaceable batteries

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    The German region of Thüringen demands regulations aimed at imposing replaceable batteries on electric scooters. According to a recent motion in the Bundesrat by the Thüringer Prime Minister, such a ban would result in a reduction of (chemical) waste, in saving energy and therefore in making mobility more sustainable.

    While the main focus of the Thüringer motion is on electric scooters with non-replaceable batteries, is also includes electric mopeds, e-bikes and speed pedelecs, equipped with non-replaceable batteries. Vehicles with these types of batteries would cause an increasing amount waste and are therefore not in line with the German objective to change mobility (Verkehrswende). Thüringen also emphasizes that their proposal would be energy-saving.

    Since June 2019, e-scooters are allowed on public roads in Germany. According to the Federal Environment Agency, this has not yet produced a tangeable effect on mobility. While e-scooters constitute an additional mode of transport, the amount of waste they cause is an issue. Therefore, the motion calls on the federal government to act on this matter. They request the government to investigate whether such a ban is possible, either at German or European level. The government is expected to respond by the end of October.

    Source: Sazbike

  8. Guidelines for Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (2nd edition)

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    Source: Eltis

    The Guidelines for developing and implementing a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (also known as the SUMP Guidelines) were originally published in 2013.

    Since then, many cities in Europe and around the world have developed SUMPs. However, since 2013, there have been significant changes in urban mobility which have created new challenges for practitioners to address. Technological advances and the willingness of the general public to enthusiastically adopt new transport modes – moving from the traditional private car ownership model to new types of shared (e)mobility – have provided a rapidly changing backdrop for urban mobility practitioners and stakeholders to manage.

    The second edition of the SUMP Guidelines has taken on board the dynamic and rapidly evolving urban mobility challenges following extensive stakeholder consultation and contributions from experts. In addition, the authors have produced a number of new thematic guides and practitioner briefings to further aid in the development and implementation of SUMPs.

    The Guidelines for developing and implementing a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (2nd Edition) can be downloaded here, along with all accompanying thematic guides.

    Eltis has also produced a series of video clips, introducing the revisions, hearing from thematic guide authors and helping viewers to understand who can use the revised guidelines and also explain the 8 key SUMP principles.

     

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