Issue #3: Doing Our Part

Bike Safety: E-bikes’ Wild West Era and How to Protect Yourself

Electric bicycles bring a charge with them, more than the battery itself. With their low environmental impact and ability to carry heavy loads like children and goods, they move people out of cars. Their operational costs are minimal. From a traffic perspective, they take up a fraction of the space a car uses, making them incredibly efficient on crowded roads. Want traffic conditions to improve in your neighborhood? Support safe bike infrastructure and e-bike subsidies similar to the rebates and tax incentives offered for electric cars.

E-bike travel times tend to be more predictable than any other mode. Traffic jam? The bike cuts through it. Unexpected road closures? The bike goes around it. Bikes are not subject to the unpredictability inherent to traffic congestion and public transit. As a result, one can leave the house for work or school drop-off without having to build in significant buffers, giving people who choose bikes more time in their day.

The e-bike industry, while young, managed to arrive at class designations that were turned into model legislation. That legislation has been adopted by many states and provides some guidance when making decisions about what type of e-bike to purchase in light of the e-bike’s capabilities and where it is allowed to travel. The outline on page 17 provides a breakdown of how the bike classes differ.

With all e-bikes have going for them, why are we calling this the wild west era? For three reasons: minimal (read essentially nonexistent) standardized manufacturing safety regulations, rider inexperience, and driver surprise. We explore each of these.

Design defects

First, we look at the absence of standardized manufacturing safety regulations. These translate to manufacturing and design concerns and how to select a good e-bike. Manufacturers, responding to high demand from parents, commuters, environmentalists, and delivery people, are flooding the market with all manner of powered two-wheelers. The engineering and industry standards for this nascent industry are minimal, and people want inexpensive options. For many people, a $1,000 e-bike is a significant expense. The $1,000 price tag makes it sound like it must be well made. But a typical throttle-controlled $1,000 bike is $800 of motor and battery connected to the cheapest components available, most of them not designed for heavy bikes traveling at light motorcycle speeds. At that price point, corners tend to get cut. When you’re riding a 50-pound bicycle that can go 28 miles per hour, you don’t want cheap brakes that may have mismatched parts because that’s what the factory had lying around.

So how does one select a safe e-bike? The simplest answer is that if the deal seems to be too good to be true, it probably is. If the reputable manufacturers are making bikes that cost X and there’s a similar bike that costs 25% of X, be suspicious. An e-bike typically replaces a car. It won’t cost anywhere near as much to purchase or operate, but a good one will be an investment. That higher price point is a form of insurance that the product you’re buying won’t fail at a critical moment.

Looking for recalls or safety campaigns for the manufacturer at the Consumer Product Safety Commission is a good start but not infallible. It can take a little while before enough data comes into the CPSC to serve as a warning for others. Additionally, manufacturers in the early era of this space pop up, sell some bikes, and frequently go out of business or reform into another entity.

Finally, talk to your local bike shop mechanic. Go over the bicycle details with the mechanic and see if the mechanic has concerns. The mechanic is likely to steer you toward an established brand that is more expensive. That’s not an upsell. It is someone looking out for your safety.