Simon Corbell has announced that he’s raising the power ceiling on electric bicycles from an anaemic 200 watts up to 250 watts to allow pedalecs onto our roads:
“The changes to the laws that the government is proposing through the Road Transport (General) Amendment Bill, will allow higher performance electric bikes (pedalecs) under the European standard, up to a maximum continuous power rating of 250 watts, to be used in the Territory. The current laws limit electric bikes to a maximum peak power of 200 watts.
“Pedalecs also have additional safety and design requirements consistent with European standards, as well as advantages such as greater performance on hills and extended range on long journeys.”
Riders will be required to adhere to bicycle road rules, such as wearing a bicycle helmet which meets the Australian Standard. The changes are being introduced following a 2012 agreement across Australian jurisdictions to allow the import, sale and use of European style electric bikes.
Mr Corbell said he hoped the new laws would promote greater choice of electric bicycles for cyclists choosing that option.
While many Chinese electric bikes have outputs in the thousands of watts the European pedelecs (I assume they’re the same thing) require the rider to put some work in and cuts out the juice at 25km/h.
[Image via wikimedia commons]
UPDATE: The Greens’ Shane Rattenbury has expressed his pleasure at this move.
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