How to legalize DIY ebike - Swiss, Germany

[vikiman]

Anybody here has experience, or advice how to legalize DIY electric bicycle, in Switzerland, or Germany?
- in case of using 250W motor
- or in case of e.g. 500-700W motor ... but preset to max 500W ... or less than 1000W ...?

I am going to build ebike with Bafang BBS02 in Switzerland ...

 

[leo99]

Hi there
I am also swiss. I live next to lausanne and I am going on my second build.
The law is 500w rated motor max, 25kmh, and no throttle.
Or it is 1000w rated motor, 45kmh and no throttle but is has to be insured and a certified by the state.

Leo

 

[maltokyo]

This series
http://madengineer.ch/blog/2015/03/16/4motus-diy-uberbike-part4-jetzt-mit-zulassung/

Is a guys experience of doing exactly this!

I am building mine now, and will follow this. I'm building with 1000w, but want to know:
- If I turn down the power (by controller) to 500w, would this make the whole exercise of registering, and getting the numberplate unnecessary?
- If I take it for inspection, and they reject it, what next?

Bit scary.. Lets share experiences on this here!?

 

[multifrag]

From researching in UK, the building and passing the inspection is least of your problems. The insurance for me was the biggest hurdle. As the vehicle is registered as unknown self built it goes with the ''Q'' plate, which limits insurance companies and even the ones which allow Q plates only allow for ebikes which are mass produced... So yeah, you can build one, you can pass MOT, but with out insurance you can't ride on the road. If anyone has any experience with Q plate in UK would love to know

 

[leew]

I am building an eTrike which will eventually get a Q plate, As you say finding Insurance was difficult, not only due to being a custom build but also as I need insurance on the chassis number in order for the DVLA to give me a number plate after I have passed the MSVA. I eventually found insurance from Adrian Flux, not cheap, about the same price as for a small car but once I get the number plate I may be able to try some other providers.

 

[craiggor]

I am building an eTrike which will eventually get a Q plate, As you say finding Insurance was difficult, not only due to being a custom build but also as I need insurance on the chassis number in order for the DVLA to give me a number plate after I have passed the MSVA. I eventually found insurance from Adrian Flux, not cheap, about the same price as for a small car but once I get the number plate I may be able to try some other providers.

I use Adrian flux.They quoted me £180 for a L1e-a ( motorized bicycle).They said it was so dear because of been unregistered.And it would drop to around £80.I pay £180 for my 3.5t classic camper van.I haven't built the bike yet so haven't got other quotes yet.A few years ago I registered a imported lambretta, and had to get insurance before registration,they did not charge extra then.Keep us informed if you get a better quote.

Sent from my D101 using Tapatalk

 

[leew]

I am building an eTrike which will eventually get a Q plate, As you say finding Insurance was difficult, not only due to being a custom build but also as I need insurance on the chassis number in order for the DVLA to give me a number plate after I have passed the MSVA. I eventually found insurance from Adrian Flux, not cheap, about the same price as for a small car but once I get the number plate I may be able to try some other providers.

I use Adrian flux.They quoted me £180 for a L1e-a ( motorized bicycle).They said it was so dear because of been unregistered.And it would drop to around £80.I pay £180 for my 3.5t classic camper van.I haven't built the bike yet so haven't got other quotes yet.A few years ago I registered a imported lambretta, and had to get insurance before registration,they did not charge extra then.Keep us informed if you get a better quote.

Sent from my D101 using Tapatalk

I was quoted £270/year from Adrian Flux (underwritten by 'Markerstudy'), which was a bit more than I expected considering the guy who built this bike: https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=66212&p=997536&hilit=msva#p997536 was only paying £90/year but did not say which company that was with and did not respond to a private message I sent asking, most likely not using the forum any more, I hope he has not crashed his bike and died or something. It could just be that my postcode is considered high risk or something, I have been driving a car for 8 years and have a full clean license with no points, convictions, accidents, claims etc