MICROMOBILITY
To gather a bit more insight into how the UK could position S-pedelecs, what needs to change to make them more attractive to consumers and how retailers can make the most of the tight legislation currently enforced in the UK, BikeBiz spoke to Mathis, sales manager of Swiss S-pedelec brand, Stromer, and David Flynn, head of marketing for their UK distributor, Hotlines.
The biggest difference Working largely in Europe, the Stromer brand has grown in popularity as one of the early adopters of S-pedelecs, alongside brands like Riese und Müller. Their key markets are currently Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands, with Germany also making swift progress in terms of accepting the S-pedelec. The biggest barrier to increasing the awareness, and of course, sales, of S-pedelecs lies in the legislation countries adopt, and in particular, the way these types of e-bikes are classified, as Gelens explains: “I think the biggest difference in respect to the regulations is that in those countries, there is a specific category for speed countries. In most countries, you have the e-bike, which doesn’t have to be registered, and then you have the e-moped, which as we all know you sit on and use your hands to propel it forward, not pedal. “But in the key markets, you have the specific category of speed pedelec. And as soon as this category has been created, the registration of a speed pedelec becomes much
36 | March 2023
easier than in other countries. Every time that you enter the market with a speed pedelec in a country where it is not known, first of all, people don’t know what it is. They think, ‘Hey it’s an e-moped but with pedals, how is this possible?’ So it takes some time.
“But in countries where the process is smooth and efficient, it’s much more attractive to customers and retailers, and makes it easier to register and start driving the speed pedelec.”
The right regulation
As mentioned above, the UK uses the e-moped classification for S-pedelecs. While there’s not much debate in favour of placing S-pedelecs in the same category as slower e-bikes - they’re much faster and do need some regulation of sorts - if the Government is serious about encouraging more people to ditch their cars, the S-pedelec does present a more viable option for many than something that’s restricted to assisting to 15.5mph. The way Stromer thinks the question of safety could be tackled is by variable speed limits for S-pedelec users, and by utilising technologies such as geo-fencing which is already highly used by shared transport e-scooter schemes. “A very important aspect of regulations is identifying where the speed pedelec can drive,” continued Gelens. “So in the UK, for example, you’re only allowed to
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