Australia will get its healthy spark back following a commonwealth government decision to re-instate the European standard for the importation, sale and road use of e-bikes across Australia.
This is the first and most essential step of the many required to bring order back into the now-chaotic Australian e-bike market, which is flooded with illegal electric motorbikes masquerading as e-bikes.
The resulting tide of injuries, deaths, battery fires and other off-putting experiences for customers has threatened what should be a whole new transport solution, replacing the second car for many families.
Only now, after many months of crisis, has the federal government grabbed the brakes and signalled that it will re-regulate to the standard that originally cleared the path for the expansion of e-bikes in Australia.
The new approach was agreed to at a recent meeting of Australia's infrastructure and transport ministers.
A communique released following the meeting stated that the Commonwealth will reinstate the EN-15194 standard and meet with relevant stakeholders to ensure the use of the standard is well understood and supported.
The EN-15194 standard was first introduced in Australia in 2014, enabling the bike industry to invest in product development, manufacturing, brand and dealer development as well as retailer training and parts support needed for the e-bike segment to develop.
However, while the standard itself was updated several times to account for technical advances and battery evolution, these were never adopted in Australia, and eventually, under the former federal government, the standard was abandoned.
The communique said: "Ministers agreed to work towards a regulatory framework for e-mobility devices to ensure safe and consistent supply and use of these devices in the Australian market, while still promoting mobility and innovation.
"The framework will be underpinned by clear, enforceable rules of use, education and guidance material.
"Ministers will receive an update on development of the framework at the first ITMM [infrastructure and transport ministers'] meeting of 2026."
Although not explicitly stated, this probably means that the version of EN-15194 that is adopted will be the latest one at the date of formal re-instatement.
And because the latest EN standard for e-bikes also contains the most advanced standard for batteries, the result will be an end to the rash of problems caused by battery fires, such as restrictions on e-bikes on trains and in apartment buildings.
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