After a big blunder in Birmingham, the Met gets London e-bike speed tests right – plus councils tap micromobility millions, Scott unveils fresh urban e-bike + more

It’s almost the weekend, which means one thing: a week in e-bikes round-up. In our neat little package of all things electric bicycle this week we’re covering the dirty underworld of London’s e-bike hire deals, how the Met is avoiding doing a WMP, and Lime’s impressive World Cup stats.

The lucrative world of London e-bikes

Are e-bikes becoming a cash cow for local councils? A report on City AM has highlighted that charges have increased by as much as 15,100% (not a typo) since 2022, while parking infrastructure has failed to keep pace. It’s not helped by a patchwork system across London’s boroughs, which means that councils can exclude operators and set their own rules, including vast fines for improper parking.

“The opportunity is big and operators want to invest millions in a market they see huge potential”, Christina Moe Gjerde, vice-president of Northern Europe at Voi, told City AM. “However, increased costs and rules that vary from borough to borough make it increasingly hard to deliver the investment we want to make.”

While micromobility operators may have a point, it’s easy to see why cash-strapped councils may try to take a slice of this particular booming lithium-ion pie: Lime, for instance, was valued at $1.7 billion following its IPO earlier this month.

As City AM points out, Transport for London is expected to introduce blanket e-bike hire rules across the city within the next 12 to 18 months, and make the micromobility business a little less like something run by Don Corleone. But, for now, there’s only one real loser here: the rider.

Limes cover almost 1m miles during World Cup Atlanta

While we’re on the subject of Lime, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has revealed that riders hit a total of 926,000 miles on the citric operator’s e-bikes and e-scooters in Atlanta during the World Cup. At the start of the tournament we reported on how Lime had laid on an extra 14,000 vehicles in to move footie fans around the city, and it seems those preparations have paid off — although part of us wonders why a Lime employee couldn’t have covered an extra 74,000 miles to get that figure up to a square one million.

Street Sweep: Scott unveils urban e-bike

Ski pole pioneer Scott has unveiled a new range of e-bikes aimed at urban riders. The Scott Sweep makes use of Bosch’s new Hub Line system, which places the motor in the rear hub and delivers 45 Nm torque and 400 W peak power.

Scott reckons the bike is “unexpectedly electric,” with a lightweight, natural ride feel and slick aesthetics that hub motors deliver — although that downtube still looks a little chunky. Inside, you’ll find a removable 360Wh battery, and it’s compatible with Bosch’s PowerMore 250Wh range extender.

The Scott Sweep will come in three variants (not additionally named Sooty and Sue, alas). The Sweep 10 (£2,399) is a lightweight, sporty model with a rigid front fork and slick one-piece Syncros cockpit. The Sweep 20 (£2,299) is aimed at commuters, with a 75mm suspension fork, adjustable stem, and heavy-duty luggage rack. Priced and specced identically, the only difference in the Sweep 20 Wave is a low, step-through frame.

Met gets e-bike testing right

You’d have to be living under a pile of mangled e-bikes to have missed the controversy West Midlands Police sparked when it confiscated and crushed a totally legal Tern GSD cargo bike after a completely unscientific “speed test.” Thankfully, and maybe not coincidentally, London’s Metropolitan Police got the memo and made a song and dance about the portable testing setups it uses to accurately verify motor cut-off speeds.

“By combining the use of new technology like ‘rolling roads’ with an intelligence-led approach to precisely target hotspot areas, we have cleared thousands of two-wheelers from our streets and crushed them,” Commander Neerav Patel, who leads the Met’s crackdown on e-bikes, said. “What we are doing is clearly working. Phone theft in the West End, increasingly perpetrated by thieves riding illegal e-bikes, has nearly halved.”

Your thoughts on those Royal Mail ‘golf buggy’ e-cargo delivery bikes

Royal Mail unveiled its latest e-cargo delivery bike/buggy/van/pedal assist vehicle thingy yesterday, the news duly shared by Callum over on road.cc’s live blog. Here what you lot made of it:

mitsky said: “I saw a few Amazon branded ones a few years ago, but they don’t seem to have taken off/expanded i numbers as much as they should. Which is surprising given how much more versatile they are than the larger vans that are still being used, causing extra motor traffic headaches for everyone. So I wonder if these will suffer the same fate.”

david21 said: “Royal Mail bringing new anything should be welcomed with open arms… The vans in smaller depots come with a smell of rubber bands and cigarettes. With an “in house” mot testing facility allowing vans to pass an mot without a proper check. Ive been asked to drive vans with no shock absorbers. Taped up doors with masking tape. And told to drive around in 1st gear all day. Steer clear of RM vans!”

bottle_bin said: “Love this but can’t wait to see how it copes with the standard Royal mail drive!”

Timothy Bro said: “There’s one in our area and it has no problem keeping up with town traffic. Very nippy.”

Alan Byrom said: “Makes me wish I was still a Postman. Much better than the Pashley pushbikes we used to use in the 1960s.”

Kay Denney said: “That’s too big for bike lanes. In France they just have ebikes with panniers.”