Future EU Emission Rules to Become Driving Force for
e-Bikes

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The EU expects environmental restrictions on cars and Powered Two-Wheelers (PTW) to be set in such a way that one norm for all vehicles will be applied by the end of this decade. A measure that will greatly incite the development and sale of e-Bikes, e-Scooters and e-Motorcycles.

During a recently held ACEM motorcycle industry conference in Brussels it was said that by 2015 the PTW industry in the EU will face a first significant clamp-down on emissions and safety technology. “We are considering the implementation of one norm for all vehicles by – say – the year 2018 to 2020,” said Giacomo Mattino; the European Commission’s specialist on automotive matters.

Preparations for the proposal of new EU technical demands on PTW’s are on the home stretch. Mattino expects them to be presented to the commission by the month of April. “They will involve new demands in the field of both environment and safety,” he said.

In this framework the presence of the BMW C1 E electric scooter prototype in the reception hall of the Brussels meeting was by no means a coincidence. Mattia Pellegrini, advisor to the EU commissioner for Transport, predicts that not only cars but the PTW world too will have to play a role in the implementation of ‘zero emission’ mobility in the future. “In the current economic downturn the industry might get support to start developments in this field,” he said.

Gabriele del Torchio, CEO of Ducati and speaking in Brussels, couldn’t agree more. “Particularly because the heaviest hits are taken by producers of PTW’s over 400 cc. That market is down by at least 35%. This industry does have a future in this part of the world, but it needs help in the short and longer term. Scrappage schemes alone won’t do. There should be more incentives to enable innovation. And the EU should help to keep suppliers on their feet for otherwise those activities will disappear to other regions of the world. A major part of it already has.”