Types of electric bikes: bicycle or motor vehicle?
Not all electric bikes are the same: Bicycles with additional drive are divided into three classes, only one of which is legally considered a normal bicycle.
The names of the different types are not defined by law. Colloquially, the term e-bike is almost always used, meaning the most widespread type of electric bike, the pedelec. However, this term never really caught on, because "e-bike" is much more catchy, but actually refers to a different type of vehicle.
Electric bike or electric bike are the generic terms for bicycles with electric motor assistance. The following names have been established in the professional world for the categories: pedelec, S-pedelec or fast/speed pedelec and e-bike.
Pedelec
The pedelec (Pedal Electric Cycle) supports riders with an electric motor up to a maximum of 250 watts, while pedaling and only up to a speed of 25 km/h. If you want to drive faster, you have to rely on your own physical performance.
The level of support can usually be set in several levels. Sensors measure how hard the pedals are pressed and how fast they are riding, and the motor then supports the pedaling movement depending on the setting. If you don't pedal or drive faster than 25 km/, the engine switches off.
The definition of a pedelec results from § 1 para. 3 of the Road Traffic Act. It is legally equivalent to the bicycle. So you don't need an insurance license plate, registration or driver's license. In addition, there is no helmet requirement or age restriction for them. This also applies to pedelecs with starting aid up to 6 km/h: This function makes it easier to push the bike uphill, for example.
Pedelecs account for about 90 percent of the market for electric bikes.
Fast Pedelecs / S-Class
The fast pedelecs, also called S-pedelecs or S-Class, are no longer bicycles, but mopeds. The wheels work like a pedelec, but the motor support is only switched off at a speed of 45 km/h. The permitted nominal continuous output of the motors is up to 4 kilowatts, but is limited to four times the power used by the driver.
For the fast class, a general operating permit or an individual operating permit from the manufacturer from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) is required. The fast electric bike needs an insurance license plate. Due to a change in the law, the "design-related maximum speed" has been the one reached when pedaling, i.e. up to 45 km/h, for several years.
It follows that drivers must be at least 15 years old and in possession of a class AM driver's license, and they must also wear a "suitable safety helmet" according to Section 21a (2) StVO. This generally refers to a helmet that has been tested according to ECE Regulation No. 22. However, it is questionable whether such a moped or motorcycle helmet is suitable for physical activity while riding an S-pedelec.
Some helmet manufacturers now have helmets in their range that meet the motorcycle standard, but are much lighter and better ventilated. This makes them suitable in any case and does not have the disadvantages of a heavy and barely ventilated motorcycle helmet.
With S-pedelecs, riders must use the roadway, they are not allowed to use cycle paths and all other paths closed to motor vehicles. You are not allowed to ride the fast pedelec on cycle paths even if they are approved for mopeds or e-bikes.
E-bikes in the narrower sense
E-bikes in the narrower sense are the third category. They are legally defined as follows: "Single-seater two-wheeled mopeds with an electric drive that automatically regulates itself to a design-related speed of no more than 25 km/h". They can therefore be compared to an electric moped and can be driven with the help of the electric drive by means of a twist grip or gear knob, even without pedalling.
If the motor power of 500 watts and its design-related maximum speed is limited to 20 km/h, helmets are not compulsory. But even then, an insurance license plate, an operating license and at least a moped test certificate or a date of birth before April 1, 1965 are necessary to drive.
You have to rely on your own performance if you want to drive faster than 20 or 25 km/h. E-bikes hardly play a role on the market. When talking about an e-bike, one can usually assume that pedelecs are actually meant.