this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2023
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[Dormant] Electric Vehicles
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How common is the pedal requirement actually? Does it apply to cheap bikes? Is there a different class/style of bike? I see people often enough accelerate quickly without pedaling and still sitting, akin to how good electric scooters accelerate. That makes me think there's a hand control
It just depends on the bike. A class 1 is pedal assist only, while a class 2 has a throttle.
To be considered a bike, I believe it’s required to have pedals that operate
Class 1 is pedal assist only with a max assist speed of 20 mph, then the motor cuts out. Class 2 has a throttle with the same max speed. Class 3 is pedal assist only with a max speed of 28 mph.
E-bikes are good imo. At the end of the day, if you really are concerned about children only using throttle, then you can take the battery out and it’ll just be a heavy bike
Better yet, a cheaper bike can be bought, teach the child to ride the bike (if they don’t know how), and then get a conversion kit
Sounds like all the commuters in my suburb either have class 2 or some unregulated/modified bikes. The style I see most is along the lines of the "Smarttravel st201f". It claims 32mph and the sales pic on Amazon features a rider standing on the ground and kicking up sand. No mention of class. So while people may be misunderstanding what "ebike" means, the majority of what I actually notice tends to function like slow electric motorcycles. It seems like the drone vs quadcopter thing (not synonyms) or 4x4 vs AWD (synonyms). Public perception and public use overrides correct terminology.