Industry launches E-Bike Positive trust mark as polling reveals consumer confusion over legal e-bikes

New polling has revealed that 84% of Britons are not confident they can tell a road-legal e-bike from an illegally modified one, as the UK cycle industry launches a new safety trust mark designed to help consumers buy with confidence.

The E-Bike Positive trust mark has been launched by the Bicycle Association (BA) and the Association of Cycle Traders (ACT), bringing verified brands and approved retailers together under a single scheme intended to identify safe, road-legal e-bikes and responsible suppliers.

At launch, the scheme includes 33 brands covering more than 80% of reputable e-bikes sold in the UK, with over 600 stores signed up nationwide, including Decathlon, Evans Cycles and Halfords, alongside hundreds of independent bike shops.

The launch follows YouGov research which found that nearly half of respondents (48%) said a recognised safety trust mark would increase their trust that an e-bike is safe and legal, while 40% said it would influence which shop or brand they chose to buy from.

The BA and ACT said existing official guidance advises the public to buy from a reputable retailer but does not provide a clear mechanism for consumers to identify one. The trade bodies believe E-Bike Positive can provide that mechanism.

To become an E-Bike Positive approved retailer, shops must commit to selling only road-legal e-bikes, servicing and repairing e-bikes only in line with manufacturer instructions, and supplying only compatible, safety-tested batteries and chargers with full safety information.

Approved retailers will also refuse to work on non-road-legal and unsafe e-bikes, must be an authorised stockist of at least one E-Bike Positive verified brand, and agree to verification checks including mystery shopper visits and documentation reviews.

Brands qualify as E-Bike Positive verified brands by passing an independent audit covering product safety policies and procedures, quality management systems, and technical and regulatory requirements. The process includes verification that e-bikes are road-legal, safety-tested and tamper-resistant.

E-Bike Positive verified brands and approved retailers are listed at ebikepositive.co.uk, where consumers can also find advice on staying safe and road-legal when purchasing an e-bike.

The scheme is funded by industry through a small levy on complete e-bike sales, shared equally between brands and retailers. However, the BA and ACT said the scale of the current challenge means further government action is still needed.

The organisations are calling for action to address the supply of unsafe products through online marketplaces, demand from the gig-economy delivery sector, and the loophole that allows non-road-legal vehicles and conversion kits to be sold on the basis that they will be used only on private land.

Until those measures are in place, the industry said E-Bike Positive will help direct purchasers to responsible suppliers of safe and road-legal e-bikes.

Steve Garidis, executive director of the Bicycle Association, said: “Reputable brands spend years and considerable sums developing e-bikes which meet longstanding international standards and all the regulations for their legal sale and use on the road. They are a fantastic product with a wide variety of customers and benefits to health and the environment.

“But all this is undermined by illegal and unsafe products often sold through online marketplaces to unsuspecting consumers. That’s why, as the industry trade bodies representing reputable e-bike brands and retailers, we have developed a safety trust mark as part of the E-Bike Positive scheme, so consumers can easily identify safe and legal e-bikes and where they may be purchased.”

Jonathan Harrison, director of the Association of Cycle Traders, said: “Our members are proud to sell properly tested, road-legal e-bikes, but until now they have had no simple way to prove it to customers who are understandably seeking reassurance.

“E-Bike Positive changes that. When retailers and the brands they stock carry the trust mark, customers can buy with confidence, knowing the products come from independently verified brands and that the retailer is committed to recognised standards and responsible retailing.”

The research also found that just 16% of respondents correctly identified the legal speed at which an e-bike’s motor must stop assisting the rider, which is 15.5mph. Meanwhile, 69% recognised that an incorrect charger can cause fires and 65% pointed to substandard conversion kits bought through online marketplaces as a risk.

Despite this, 30% still believed all e-bikes are equally prone to fire, which the industry said demonstrates how illegal products have affected perceptions of the wider category, including legitimate brands produced to international standards.

Lithium battery fires linked to unsafe products have caused deaths and serious injuries, while fire and rescue services are responding to a growing number of incidents. The industry also warned that insurers are withdrawing cover and landlords, employers and transport operators are introducing blanket bans on e-bikes, including safe, road-legal products.

The findings were published as cycling industry experts joined the City of London Police to assess seized illegal and unsafe e-bikes in the capital, ranging from de-restricted e-bikes to throttle-driven machines described as barely distinguishable from mopeds.

Sergeant Stu Ford, Cycle Team at City of London Police, said: “The machines we are seizing are not bicycles. Many have been illegally modified to reach speeds that put riders, pedestrians and other road users in serious danger, and the batteries and chargers involved carry a real fire risk. Enforcement is essential, but so is helping the public understand what they are buying. Anything that makes it easier for people to choose a safe, legal e-bike, and to avoid the dangerous alternatives, supports the work we are doing on the streets.”