By Chris Buckley

BEIJING (Reuters Life!) - China's vast population of battery-powered bikes is the focus of uproar after new rules ignited public fears, and hopes among some, that these pack mules of the nation's economic boom could be run off the road.

China's image as the land of the bicycle has been fading as its rising wealth has boosted ownership of cars and, for the less well-heeled, "e-bikes": bicycles with battery-powered motors as well as small pedals to distinguish them from motorbikes.

But the spread of the e-bike has struck a policy pothole after the national standards agency issued rules threatening to rein in the bigger models, favoured by traders and couriers hauling loads.

The Standardisation Administration of China resurrected 10-year-old rules saying that electric bikes weighing over 40 kg or able to go faster than 20 km (12.4 miles) per hour should count as motorbikes, and suggesting riders of such bikes would need the licences they had long done without.

A week of public debate, industry lobbying and media reports ensued about the potentially costly licences and possibility that bigger e-bikes would be priced out of the market.

Last week, faced with growing clamour, the administration issued a statement on its website (www.jb-electricbikes.com) repeating the rules, but it also said it was up to province and city governments to decide how to enforce any registration demands.

The debate has revealed a nation divided between love and hate for electric bikes -- and consumers and businesses who increasingly feel they should have a say in government rules about what they can buy and make.

China's ruling Communist Party keeps a tight lid on public discussion of politics. But in consumer rights and other less sensitive areas, citizens and industry groups are becoming bolder, a trend

 echoed in the e-bike debate. 

"Maybe the government likes to meddle in other people's business so much that it invented such stupid, unreasonable rules", said Zhao Lijun, a beefy 47-year-old deliveryman using his electric bike to deliver meat and vegetables to restaurants.

"I'm almost in my 50s, and my physical strength is far from enough for me to ride a pedal bicycle the whole day."

More than public feeling is at stake. China has nearly 2,000 manufacturers allowed to make Electric bikes and they have been producing 21 million each year, said an official at the bicycle industry association, which represents many manufacturers.

The bike batteries also drive much lead demand.

E-bikes usually jostle with pedal-power bikes in special lanes on city streets. Riders also mount sidewalks, and in the eyes of harried residents, the Electric bikes can be quietly menacing missiles of steel, lead and rubber.

Many Chinese cities, including Beijing, ban or strictly limit motorbikes, and restrict the size of e-bikes. But in the free-for-all of urban Chinese traffic, it is not uncommon to see speeding e-bikes in spills and head-on collisions.

"They are even not licensed, the electric bikes," said Wang Fuhe, a Beijing taxi driver. "So they have nothing to fear. They hit pedestrians and cars then run away, barely traceable."

E-bike makers have denounced the rules as a move to protect motorcycle makers and state-owned companies whose business has been crimped, Chinese newspapers have reported. Local industry groups have demanded public hearings, the reports have said.

"Virtually all of the manufacturers of electric bikes are private businesses," said Gong Xiaoyan, head of the e-bike industry association of Tianjin, a port city near Beijing, according to the Chinese-language 21st Century Business Herald. 

"This standard will push these small and medium-sized businesses to the brink of extinction," he said. "Clearly that is at odds with the government's demands for social stability."

But making and discarding the bulky rechargeable batteries are environmental worries, said Robert Earley, who works for the Innovation Center for Energy and Transportation in Beijing, a group encouraging green transport. Few bikes come with lighter, cleaner lithium batteries.

"The bikes use lead-acid batteries that weigh about 4 or 5 kilos each. You multiply that by 21 million and that's an awful lot of lead," he said.

"I don't think China has the social infrastructure to administer rules like this," he said. "But it could be a way to slow down the industry until technology catches up".

(Additional reporting by Huang Yan and Yu Le; Editing by Nick Macfie and Miral Fahmy)

http://www.jb-electricbikes.com/
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"In a systematic energy flow comparison, a grid-charged battery driving an electric motor will provide mechanical energy about ten times more efficiently than a human eating a typical US diet. For personal travel between 5 and 30 miles per day, the electric bicycle offers the lowest environmental and personal monetary cost, usually without increasing urban travel time"
From Energy,Global Warming, and Electric Bicycles
Energy Flow Analysis with an Emphasis on Personal Transportation

1. Hill Climbing
That may sound obvious, but its the primary advantage. A good electric bike effectively flattens hills, increasing your average speed and eliminating the groan factor when a gradient comes into view. Provided you supply a reasonable amount of effort, you can expect to climb hills of 1 in 10 (10%) on an electric bike with ease, and clear a maximum gradient of 1 in 7 (14%), or much more. In hilly country, the effect is nothing short of miraculous.

2. Safety
It sounds unlikely, doesnt it? But the mathematics is compelling. Think of a steep and busy road, with cars climbing at 30mph. If you previously slogged up the hill at 6mph, but can tackle the same gradient at 12mph with an electric bike, you will see 33% fewer cars, and they will pass you at 18mph rather than 24mph. Or at least, we think thats correct.

Whatever the figures, theres no doubt that an electric bike helps to keep you out of danger. The same general principle applies to road junctions - the faster your acceleration, the sooner you can get out of trouble. And with no need to rush the hills, you wont be tempted to ride downhill at breakneck speed... another useful safety feature.

3. Personal Fitness
Surely a conventional bike will keep you fitter? That, of course, depends how much - if at all - you use it. Research (b) has found that 46% of conventional bikes are used only once or twice a week, with a further 30% being used once a fortnight or even less. By contrast, a recent survey of electric bicycle owners reveals that a third ride their bike at least once a day and 81% use the bike at least once a week (c).

The figures confirm our experience that an electric bike typically gets used at least twice as often as a conventional machine.

Because riding an electric bike is a great deal more enjoyable in hilly country, into strong winds, or when carrying heavy loads, users tend to make better use of them. The motor provides up to half the effort, but more regular use means more exercise for the rider.

4. No Sweat!
Sweat may not be a serious issue when youre out for a leisure ride, but its more important if youre cycling to work. Although some employers are rather grudgingly providing showers and other facilities for cyclists, the great majority have no intention of doing so. An electric bike eliminates the problem at source. In hot weather, its possible to maintain a normal schedule by transferring a bit more load to the electric motor. In colder weather - or if you feel in need of exercise - just throttle back, or turn the motor off.

5. Clean & Green

Electric bikes obviously consume energy, where a conventional bikes does not (provided we ignore the environmental cost of growing and processing food - see below). However, the amount of energy used is very small compared to a moped, motorcycle or car. Besides fuel, the only consumables are the batteries, and these can normally be recycled when life-expired. As for energy use, electric bikes typically consume fuel at an average rate of 100 to 150 watts of electrical energy, against 15,000 or so for a car (admittedly travelling much faster). In terms of fuel consumption, an electric bike achieves about 800-2,000mpg (290 - 700 litres/kilometre) (d). No other commercially available vehicle can match figures of this kind.

If its hard to place these numbers in your own lifestyle, think of a 100 watt electric light bulb burning for an evening - thats enough energy to propel an electrically-assisted bike for 20 to 40 miles...

6. Genuinely Sustainable
Theres a lot of nonsense talked about sustainability in transport, but an electric bicycle can be made genuinely sustainable. Purchase electricity from a green supplier, or generate your own with a roof-mounted windmill or solar panel array (see Solar Power facts), and the vehicles fossil fuel consumption will be zero. Surely a conventional bike does that already? Only if you grow the food you consume whilst riding it. Unfortunately, most modern food production and distribution is so fuel-intensive that the consumption of a typical cyclist is not terribly good.

7. Faster travel
In theory a car can average a high speed, but in practise speed often falls below 10mph in cities. The problem is congestion - motorcycles get around this to some extent, but theyre still confined to the road network. An electric bike can maintain a higher average speed than a bicycle but take advantage of the same network of cycle facilities, giving access to routes that cars and motorcycles cannot reach. The result is often a faster door-to-door journey time than any other mode. And by taking advantage of the uncongested cycle network, but eliminating hills and headwinds, electric bikes are often the most consistent mode of travel.

8. High Resale Value
Electric bikes are new technology, and its early days yet, but the evidence points to a much better resale value than a conventional bike. True, a typical electric bike costs more to buy, at 400-1,000, but it seems youll get most of that back if you sell the machine on.

9. Motorised, but no Red Tape!
You know how it is... MOT due, log book missing, insurance costs rising year on year. Electric bikes are treated just like ordinary bicycles for legislative purposes, so theres absolutely no registration or legislation to worry about. You are of course free to insure the machine if you wish, but theres no compulsion to do anything but enjoy yourself!

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