When it comes to the 'little electric donkey', everyone is familiar with it. Data shows that the total number of electric bicycles in China has exceeded 350 million. Electric bicycles are closely related to people's travel and daily life, and their safety concerns every family. The reporter learned from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on the 13th that the new version of the "Safety Technical Specification for Electric Bicycles" has been recently released and will be implemented from September 1, 2025.
Compared with the old version of the standard, the new standard has stricter requirements in terms of safety and has relaxed requirements in terms of ease of use. Does your 'little electric donkey' meet the requirements? How to walk a safe path for electric bicycles?
The new standard targets fire hazards and traffic risks
Electric bicycles are an important means of transportation for people's daily short distance travel. With the continuous expansion of the market size, this industry has also exposed some problems such as illegal modifications.
The relevant person in charge of the Consumer Goods Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology introduced that the new standard has been modified and improved in terms of fire prevention and flame retardancy, prevention of illegal modification, improvement of safety performance, and meeting the daily needs of consumers. It is interconnected with the three newly revised mandatory national standards and modified phases that will be implemented on November 1, 2024, to jointly form the mandatory national standard system for electric bicycles, ensuring the intrinsic safety level of electric bicycle products.
Reducing the hidden dangers and hazards of fire accidents - The new standard strengthens the fire and flame retardant performance requirements of non-metallic materials, and clarifies that the total mass of plastic used in electric bicycles should not exceed 5.5% of the vehicle mass, in order to reduce the occurrence of fire accidents and minimize the degree of harm.
Reduce the risk of traffic accidents - The new standards strictly limit key parameters such as the maximum speed of electric motors, shorten the braking distance of vehicles, encourage the installation of rearview mirrors, and improve vehicle driving safety.
Preventing illegal modification - The new standard improves the anti tampering technical indicators and detection methods, increases mutual recognition and coordination functions, implements the "one car, one pool, one charging, one code" policy, and significantly raises the threshold for illegal modification technically.
While strengthening safety management, the new standards have appropriately relaxed some indicators in terms of convenience for travel.
For example, the weight limit for lead-acid battery models will be relaxed from 55 kilograms to 63 kilograms to meet consumers' range requirements; pedal riding devices will no longer be mandatory, "said He Penglin, deputy director of the Safety Technology Research Center of the China Electronics Standardization Institute. The new standard also requires electric bicycles to have Beidou positioning, communication, and dynamic safety monitoring functions to respond promptly to abnormal situations such as vehicle theft, high temperature, or high battery voltage. For ordinary non-commercial electric bicycles, consumers have the autonomy to choose whether to retain the Beidou positioning module.
What changes have occurred in production and sales during the transition period?
The revision of standards affects the production and market changes of enterprises. How to digest the inventory of electric bicycles that have already been produced after the release of the new standard? How can companies adjust their production lines?
The new standard sets an 8-month production transition period for enterprises to conduct new product research and development and production line adjustments, "said a person in charge of the Consumer Goods Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. After the official implementation, there is still a 3-month sales transition period to facilitate the digestion of electric bicycles that meet the old standard.
