E-bikes are not motorcycles, EU Court rules

The European Court of Justice has ruled that electric-assist bicycles, or e-bikes, are not motor vehicles.

While this might seem like a fairly common-sense decision, it has also been an important one for the classification of e-bikes.

In classifying e-bikes as not motor vehicles, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has classified e-bikes as bicycles, and therefore as vulnerable road users. It also means that e-bikes do not need insurance like a car or motorcycle.

The judgement was made based on the way in which an e-bike is powered, which is primarily non-mechanically, and because of the relatively low speeds at which an e-bike can accelerate without pedalling.

The debate around the classification of e-bikes has been ongoing since their initial emergence, Global Cycling Network reports. This resolution by the ECJ was born from a Belgian case in which a cyclist riding an e-bike was hit by a car and subsequently died from their injuries. During court proceedings, the matter of the cyclist’s right to compensation was discussed, which the classification of their mode of transport factored into.

The Belgian courts referred the case to the ECJ in seeking an answer to their question of classification. The ECJ decided that “Devices which are not propelled exclusively by mechanical power, such as an electric bicycle which may accelerate to 20kph without pedalling, do not appear to be capable of causing bodily or material damage to third parties comparable to the damage that may be caused by motorcycles, cars, trucks or other vehicles propelled exclusively by mechanical power, which can reach significantly higher speeds."