32kph for Australia

[Satina]

Word on the street is that most eMTB manufacturers are negotiating with the ACCC Australian Government on getting the 25kph restriction lifted. The situation is looking very promising thanks to the community support. Unfortunately there are a few people who are not supporting the notion on social media and voices have not been heard. Apparently there was a community vote which has been deleted. The community has gathered as much information which has most likely forwarded a favourable outcome. Please note ALL MANUFACTURERS are supportive of this notion.

 

[Peaky Rider]

Be great if the same was happening here in the UK. What would help would be a Prime Minister who enjoyed riding a bike but was a bit on the lazy and flabby side. If only we'd had someone like that.

 

[irie]

Be great if the same was happening here in the UK. What would help would be a Prime Minister who enjoyed riding a bike but was a bit on the lazy and flabby side. If only we'd had someone like that.

If we'd had someone like that he'd probably lie about riding the bike.

 

[megabobra]

Word on the street is that most eMTB manufacturers are negotiating with the ACCC Australian Government on getting the 25kph restriction lifted. The situation is looking very promising thanks to the community support. Unfortunately there are a few people who are not supporting the notion on social media and voices have not been heard. Apparently there was a community vote which has been deleted. The community has gathered as much information which has most likely forwarded a favourable outcome. Please note ALL MANUFACTURERS are supportive of this notion.

Any links to the word on the street?

 

[JP-NZ]

Wait a minute... I thought it was only the UK and some parts of Europe that have 25kph/15mph cutoffs? So does Australian EMTB's have this too? Its 32kph/20mph in New Zealand

 

[Zed]

Wait a minute... I thought it was only the UK and some parts of Europe that have 25kph/15mph cutoffs? So does Australian EMTB's have this too? Its 32kph/20mph in New Zealand

Yeah, sadly... I live in hope.

I'll believe it when I see though... Australia is such a nanny state country in so many ways...

 

[JP-NZ]

God that is disappointing... Ive just found out via reading that we actually dont have an ebike speed limit, just bikes in NZ are limited to 300w. Some urban ebikes here are sold that achieve 45-50kph speeds.

I ride my analogue/commuter bike in excess of 30kph regularly, I even find the 32kph limit on my ebike is a pain in the ass on the road. I can only imagine how bad 25kph is

 

[cookie70]

Any updates on ACCC action?

32k makes more sense, however, I wont get my hopes up.. I ride my eeb 90% of the time offroad on single trails and 25k limit is really noticeable on fast jump trails, to the point I skip some as hard to get the right speed!

 

[PennywiseTheDancingClown]

Any updates on ACCC action?

32k makes more sense, however, I wont get my hopes up.. I ride my eeb 90% of the time offroad on single trails and 25k limit is really noticeable on fast jump trails, to the point I skip some as hard to get the right speed!

its australia.. theyre more likely to reduce the max than raise it.

 

[cookie70]

its australia.. theyre more likely to reduce the max than raise it.

haha sad but true!

if I didnt worry about my warranty for the motor the "limit" would not bother me. It's a joke that even tho in other countries 32k is ok and within the design limits, but soon as you change that setting in your motor here, sorry, no warranty for you! What about if your on private land?? sorry no warranty for you

 

[Kingerz]

Australia will more likely make it 12kmph and require elbow, knee and spinal armour.
Victoria will be 9kmph and require a yearly licence worth $90.

 

[Mikerb]

The definition and therefore subsequent description of a pedelec was specified by the EU so no reason for non EU countries to follow suit. I think the stumbling block may be that part of the decision process for the definition of a pedelec by the EU had nothing to do with an Ebike specifically but more especially how it fitted as a motorised form of transport within the existing heirachy of vehicles. That heirachy relates to things like type approval ( safety) , existing road traffic laws ( lights horns indicators etc), registration and taxation. Unfortunately, all of that tends to be fairly similar whether in the UK or elsewhere. Raising the assisted speed limit would make the pedelec much closer to the next sep in the heirachy...mopeds......for which all of the above apply...type approval/road traffic laws on lights etc and annual testing/ registration and taxation/ plus minimum age limits and compulsory helmets.

I think the trick missed by all those that attempt to get changes is that regrdless of the placing of pedelecs in the vehicle heirachy, they are only motorised ASSIST.......ie you have to pedal. That should be enough on its own to overcome objections.

The other issue that has to be overcome is that there is no imperative ( other than the wishes of users) to increase the assist speed limit.........yet there are very easy, even if spurious, ways to reject any such applications............added speed = more safety risk. The argument needs to be made that slow is dangerous ( even though that only could be a rgued with any any degree of credibility for those using Ebikes on public highways. Not easy.

 

[Bomble]

What’s the speed limit on those little electric scooters on trial in the cities?

 

[JP-NZ]

What’s the speed limit on those little electric scooters on trial in the cities?

Here in New Zealand its 30-32kph

 

[ebikerider]

Anyone heard any updates on this? Would so love the assistance to be 32!

 

[ilostmypassword]

Australia will more likely make it 12kmph and require elbow, knee and spinal armour.
Victoria will be 9kmph and require a yearly licence worth $90.

And a safe and effective covid jab every month

 

[Stihldog]

And a safe and effective covid jab every month

Sea Sponges from the waters of BC. Coming soon for all your Covid vax woes.
32kh makes sense for a peddle assist. Common sense can be difficult to come by though.

 

[offroad]

25kph is nonsense when you can peddle a treadly at 30kph and still stay under the posted road limit. Tour de Force riders can average 50-60kph.

It wasn't hard to remove the 25kph limit on my cheap Chinese eBike. Move the speed sensor from the wheel to the crank position. The Ananda M100 motor has a very convenient screw placement on the left hand plastic motor cover to attach the sensor and cable tie the magnet to the crank. Hello 50kph and pray the low quality brakes may save you...

If the limit ever gets changed existing eBike owners will no doubt encounter significant cost if their bike needs eTuning by their LBS to modify the motor firmware speed limit.

Time for Australia to align itself with NZ and USA on this one where common sense prevails (most of the time) !

 

[torabora851]

Word on the street is that most eMTB manufacturers are negotiating with the ACCC Australian Government on getting the 25kph restriction lifted. The situation is looking very promising thanks to the community support. Unfortunately there are a few people who are not supporting the notion on social media and voices have not been heard. Apparently there was a community vote which has been deleted. The community has gathered as much information which has most likely forwarded a favourable outcome. Please note ALL MANUFACTURERS are supportive of this notion.

Is there any petition we should sign to get 32km/h as in NZ?

 

[Mikerb]

when was the last time any Government increased any speed limit...assisted or not? The only potential incentive is to increase demand for ebikes in general as a partial replacement for other forms of transport but since the majority of ebike use is in an urban environment any speed increase is not very likely. In the UK many urban/residential areas are reducing some 30mph speed limits to 20mph!!

 

[torabora851]

Oh, I envy New Zealand mountain bikers. They have 32km/h e-bikes, more legal trails and they can buy beer in supermarkets

 

[Creddax]

Knowing the current Australian governments obsession with climate change and electric vehicles, the voice of the EMTB community may have more power than you think. Also, if we worded a petition to suggest that raising the speed limit would encourage more people to transition to ebikes, we might be able to convince the government bureaucrats it is a good idea...

 

[torabora851]

Knowing the current Australian governments obsession with climate change and electric vehicles, the voice of the EMTB community may have more power than you think. Also, if we worded a petition to suggest that raising the speed limit would encourage more people to transition to ebikes, we might be able to convince the government bureaucrats it is a good idea...

Great idea! We need someone with good writing skills to write the petition and we publish it on changes.org!

 

[Creddax]

I just checked.
There was an old petition on change.org specifically for ebike speed limit in
Australia (45kmh). The petition is closed. It only had approx 1000 supporters...
There doesn't appear to be any open petitions for the same issue.

 

[torabora851]

I just checked.
There was an old petition on change.org specifically for ebike speed limit in
Australia (45kmh). The petition is closed. It only had approx 1000 supporters...
There doesn't appear to be any open petitions for the same issue.

45kmh looks dangerous, but 32 is about right, especially if the neighbour country has the same.

 

[cookie70]

I just checked.
There was an old petition on change.org specifically for ebike speed limit in
Australia (45kmh). The petition is closed. It only had approx 1000 supporters...
There doesn't appear to be any open petitions for the same issue.

That was back in 2017. The landscape of ebikes and outdoor activity has changed dramatically especially in a post covid world.

I agree, 32kmph seems a good compromise and hopefully avoids the debate of registration/licenses!

 

[Creddax]

Yes, I agree with both that 32 kph would seem more appropriate, although I am sure most normal bicycles can and do travel safely faster than that. But your point about licenses/registration is a good one.

As stated by Satina in the original post of this thread there was a lobbying campaign by the cycle industry leaders (Bicycle Industries Australia). I could not find any reference to that campaign on the BIA website, but I did find reference to it on an ABC story from July 2021. Here is a short quote from the ABC article: "Peter Bourke said BIA was talking with federal and state governments about reviewing the current regulations and recommended increasing the maximum assisted speed to about 32 kph."

So yes, it may be a good time to create a new ebike community petition on change.org and if possible have it linked to the industry campaign if that is still active.

 

[JP-NZ]

Oh, I envy New Zealand mountain bikers. They have 32km/h e-bikes, more legal trails and they can buy beer in supermarkets

And beer is quite a bit cheaper than Australia. Mainstream stuff like Heineken is $21-24 NZ a dozen.

Sorry bout it

 

[pmcdonald]

I've written to the NSW Transport minister a number of months back pleading for review of our 25 km/h limits and putting forward a few arguments in favor. I received a very form response explaining what the current rules are. I won't hold my breath either...

 

[Satina]

99 Bikes AUstralia backed by VIP's are apparently negotiating with the ACCC. We are hoping for a favourable outcome. I am presuming it’s all about the manufacturers warranty support. There was a vote on this and other forums which has been deleted by admins that had relevant information needed. We suggest that everyone complies to the rules as they will be conducting random checks leading to fines and bikes been confiscated.