Rigid S-Pedelec Regulation: Just No Car Replacement!

While e-bikes are booming, the faster so-called S-Pedelecs, which have a top speed of up to 45 km/h, remain at a marginal level with only a one percent sales share. This is likely due to the rigid criteria for the fast electric bikes, which have long been criticized by cycling and environmental associations. These include road usage rules, license plate requirements, and helmet mandates, as well as a ban on trailers. Additionally, field and forest paths cannot be used, and the blood alcohol limit is 0.5.

"There are no increases like in the normal e-bike market. A missed opportunity," explained Tim Salatzki, Head of Technology and Standardization at the Zweirad Industrie Verband (ZIV), recently to Spiegel Online.

Even the ADAC sees great potential in the fast e-bikes for commuter traffic: Up to 20 kilometers could be covered without excessive physical exertion by bicycle instead of by car or public transport, the automobile club reported.

The alternative transport club Germany (VDC) also sees significant "shift potentials," pointing out that two-thirds of all car trips are under ten kilometers and that the average speed in most major cities is just over 20 km/h. Even longer routes can be well replaced by the S-Pedelec for commuting. There is great potential for traffic transition and reducing motorized individual traffic in cities. "In urban areas or metropolitan regions, there would be no time loss compared to cars with the right legal framework, and even a time advantage in terms of traffic jams and parking searches," argued a background paper from the association.

The new transport ministry also sees no need for change

It is precisely these legal regulations that prevent greater success of the speed bikes, for which the "old" transport ministry under CSU's Andreas Scheuer was responsible, but for which FDP's transport minister Volker Wissing also sees no need for change. According to a Spiegel inquiry, they refer to the responsibility of the federal states and their road traffic authorities; from a road traffic law perspective, there is no need for change. "Additional signs can release bike paths for S-Pedelecs," a spokesperson explained to the medium. 

The difficulty of this was shown by the precedent case of Tübingen, whose mayor, Boris Palmer, had been pressing for the release of bike paths for S-Pedelecs since 2010. In 2019, he received permission to release a bike path for S-Pedelecs within a model project and, in the meantime, extended it as a network on overland routes with a maximum speed of 30 km/h. According to ADFC, no other municipalities in Germany are known.

In contrast, the example of Switzerland shows where the S-Pedelec share is twelve percent, and the fast bikes have had to use the bike path for about a decade. In Germany, however, many bike paths are too narrow, making safe overtaking impossible, a VCD spokesperson told Spiegel, limiting such considerations. There are no problems seen in the association with releasing rapid bike paths for S-Pedelecs or the long-demanded introduction of a 30 km/h standard speed in cities. Then S-Pedelecs and cars could flow in the traffic stream, increasing safety for all. Meanwhile, Mayor Palmer is calling for a campaign to raise awareness of the potential of speed bikes as a car replacement. The politician sets a good example by foregoing the official car and making appointments between five and 20 kilometers with the S-Pedelec. He finds the current regulation out of touch with reality.

"It would be like banning a Porsche from entering a 30 zone because its engine can reach 300 km/h," stated the contentious mayor.

What does this mean?

One cannot shake off the suspicion that the arbitrary S-Pedelec regulation in Germany primarily aims to create enough distance from the "sacred cow" of the automobile. A sort of informal and unspoken "car distance requirement." The rigid rules are barely explainable otherwise, with the helmet mandate being the most plausible among them. But not on dirt paths, not on bike paths, and then having to tolerate honking or cutting off by uninformed drivers? What's the point, does the ministry want to prevent the success of a promising mode of transport at all costs, so that everyone continues to commute by car from the suburbs, clog the cities, and sit in traffic jams?

If the much-vaunted traffic transition, which is supposed to succeed through the technological innovations always emphasized by the FDP, is to happen, the first step would be to abolish restrictive legal regulations like these.

No bans, but incentives should be created, FDP leader Christian Lindner always propagates. Well, then clear this quasi-ban aside - and create an incentive to buy a fast Pedelec instead of a car - also as a "bicycle-born" declaration of independence from Russian oil and fossil fuels. And then you can immediately remove the arbitrary 45 km/h rule for e-scooters and LEVs. One just needs to take one's own words seriously - and finally get serious.