European Bicycle industry calls for ban on sale, application and use of e-bike tampering equipment
European Bicycle industry calls for ban on sale, application and use of e-bike tampering equipment
Posted on 25 Jan 2023
Under the banner of CONEBI, the Confederation of the European Bicycle Industry,15 national bicycle industry associations and 68 companies have become signatories to a self-commitment to prevent the tampering of e-bikes.
Riding manipulated e-bikes on public roads may not only lead to safety issues and technical problems but also result in serious legal consequences, CONEBI said in a statement reported by Bike Europe. Riding a tampered e-bike on public roads can lead to criminal prosecution. Riding a tampered e-bike also risks invalidating third party or personal injury insurance. Furthermore, cyclists risk losing their guarantee and invalidating their warranty claims.
Erhard Büchel, President of CONEBI: “The bicycle industry takes the topic of tampering very seriously and has started several actions to curb this dangerous practice. This self-commitment is only one pillar of our overall strategy. Moreover, market surveillance must be strengthened at national level supported by European legislations. Last but not least, we condemn very strongly the sales of tampering kits which endanger the safety of consumers as the e-bike is not designed for such an increased speed. We therefore call upon the European legislators to clearly forbid the sale, application, and use of tampering equipment”
To further support this position CONEBI prepared a self-commitment for the prevention of tampering of e-bikes. All the signatories, ranging from national industry associations to global companies active in the industry, commit to ensuring that all applicable anti-tampering requirements which are included in EN 15194:2017 are met, to continuously evaluate and improve existing standards as well as to raise awareness about this illegal practice to related stakeholders such as retailers via trainings, documentations, workshops and campaigns. Many industry-leading companies like Bosch, Shimano and Bafang are on the list, but many are still missing as well, particularly OEMs and e-bike A-brands.
CONEBI strongly believes that “the current regulatory framework for e-bikes is well suited and the equal treatment of e-bikes and bicycles is fundamental for the rise in e-bike use in recent years. CONEBI does however see the tampering as a threat to this stable framework. Therefore there is a strong motivation for the bicycle industry to fight tampering.”