Where Does The Law Stand On Electric Vehicles?

[Storm]

as title really, where does the law stand on the likes of 3 and 4 wheel electric vehicles on the public roads?

for instance, what would stop me buying a mobility scooter or sinclair c5, popping a 36v brushless motor in and hitting 20-30+ mph?

im not 100% sure mobility scooters are allowed on the public roads but from memory the sinclair c5 certainly was so what are the requirements the vehicle must meet to remain free from tax/insurance/mot etc?

thanks

 

[Bryan]

As far as I know they have to be restricted to less than 8mph.

 

[stevieturbo]

as title really, where does the law stand on the likes of 3 and 4 wheel electric vehicles on the public roads?

for instance, what would stop me buying a mobility scooter or sinclair c5, popping a 36v brushless motor in and hitting 20-30+ mph?

im not 100% sure mobility scooters are allowed on the public roads but from memory the sinclair c5 certainly was so what are the requirements the vehicle must meet to remain free from tax/insurance/mot etc?

thanks

Once you register it for road use, it passes all safety inspections like IVA etc etc, then a road going vehicle can be made legal regardless of how it's powered. However, that's the hard part.

 

[Storm]

As far as I know they have to be restricted to less than 8mph.

the c5 was capable of 15mph tho, more if you started pedalling lol...

Once you register it for road use, it passes all safety inspections like IVA etc etc, then a road going vehicle can be made legal regardless of how it's powered. However, that's the hard part.

do mobility scooters need to be registered for road use etc? as far as i was aware the c5 didnt require any registering etc...

 

[sacodetoro]

For the scooters, Not a legal requirement but you can, doesn't cost anything and u get a number plate and a tax disk, insurance is only £70 a year but not a requirement either.
The scooters aren't legally allowed to go more than 4mph on a footpath.

 

[Storm]

sweet, cheers for the info guys

just managed to find this online:

max power is 250w
max speed is 15mph
max weight is 40kg for a bike or 60kg for a tricycle

should be plenty to work on lol

Despite the more recent EU directive and standard, the UK’s [20] Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle Regulations 1983 (SI 1983/1168) have not been rescinded and still apply. These require that the motor has an average power output limited to 200 W (250 W for tricycles and tandems), weight limited to 40 kg (60 kg for tricycles and tandems), and a maximum speed when power-assisted of 15 mph. For electric cycles meeting these requirements, the vehicle does not require registration or periodic road worthiness assessment, and operators do not require a licence or insurance. (Operators must be at least 14 years of age.) However, since 2006, when Statutory Instrument 2935 brought EU Directive 2002/24/EC into UK law, vehicles that don't meet the EU definition of an electric cycle have required type approval. This overlap of requirements has certain effects, as described below.
The following features of a EU-definition electric cycle are not legally available in the UK:

• upper power outputs between 201 W and 250 W on bicycles
• maximum speeds between 15.01 mph and 15.53 mph
• weights above 40 kg for bicycles and 60 kg for tricycles and tandems

The following features of a UK-definition electric cycle make a vehicle subject to type approval:

• the application of motor power without use of the pedals
• the application of motor power without progressive reduction to zero at 15.53 mph (meaning that at the maximum UK speed of 15 mph some residual supply of power is permitted)

There are no known cases of enforcement of the requirement for type approval. This could be because compliance with type approval is declared when a vehicle is first registered for use on the road, and UK-definition electric cycles are exempt from such registration by the 1983 UK regulations.