Are you going green? Is an e-bike something that you are considering the purchase of to help you get around? Buying an electric bicycle or adding an electric motor to a conventional bicycle to help out with the chore of pedalling uphill or giving a boost to your efforts on level ground sure sounds good!
A motor assisted cycle (aka: electric bicycle or e-bike) is described in B.C.'s Motor Assisted Cycle Regulation. Requirements for legal use on our roads include:
- It must have an electric motor with a power of 500 watts or less
- It must not travel faster than 32 km/h on level ground when propelled by the motor alone
- It must be switched on or off by the rider or controlled by a switch that will not let the motor start until a speed of 3 km/h has been attained by pedalling
- The motor must disengage when the rider quits pedalling, applies the brake or releases the accelerator
- It must have pedals to allow the rider to move it by muscular power
- It must not have more than 3 wheels and those wheels must be at least 350 mm in diameter