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september 19,ministry of industry and information technologyaccording to the official website information,national standards committeethe mandatory national standard formulation and revision plan issued byministry of industry and information technologythe organization is complete"safety technical specifications for electric bicycles (draft for comments)"the preparation of the mandatory national standard (hereinafter referred to as the "technical specification") is now publicizing the draft standard, preparation instructions, and major revisions to solicit public opinions. the deadline for soliciting opinions is october 19, 2024.

the reporter of daily economic news noted that this draft for comments is a revision of the current standard. compared with the current standard, this draft for comments has been revised in terms of restrictions on plastic parts, fire retardancy, anti-tampering, beidou positioning, corporate quality assurance capabilities and product consistency, and motor power restrictions.

lu jinlong, vice chairman of the china bicycle association and honorary chairman of the jiangsu bicycle and electric vehicle associationin a telephone interview with a reporter from the national business daily, he said, "compared with the second draft for comments, this draft is obviously more down-to-earth."

citizens charging electric bicycles. image source: xinhua news agency

the electric bicycle industry has exposed some problems

my country is a major producer and consumer of electric bicycles in the world. by the end of 2023, the number of electric bicycles in my country will exceed 350 million. electric bicycles mainly use lead-acid batteries and lithium batteries. currently, there are about 50 million lithium-ion battery electric bicycles.

according tonational bureau of statisticsaccording to statistics, in 2023, there were 738 enterprises above designated size in the power-assisted bicycle manufacturing industry, including electric bicycles, with an annual output of 42.28 million units, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%. the average annual growth rate of output in the past five years was 11.8%.

relevant person in charge of the consumer goods industry department of the ministry of industry and information technologyin interpreting the technical specifications, it was stated that my country is the world's largest producer and seller of electric bicycles. after years of development, electric bicycles have gradually become an important basic means of transportation for consumers' daily short-distance travel. however, with the continuous expansion of the market scale, the electric bicycle industry has also exposed some problems.

for example, in recent years, electric bicycles have caused many fire accidents and even caused casualties, posing a threat to the safety of life and property of the people. according to a report from the national fire rescue administration, there were 18,000 fires caused by electric bicycles in 2021, and this number quickly increased to 25,000 in 2023, with an average annual growth rate of about 20%; the proportion of electric bicycle fires in major fires throughout the year increased rapidly from 5.9% in 2021 to 12.7% in 2023.

in addition, due to the illegal tampering of many vehicles, their maximum speed, battery voltage, motor power and other technical indicators have exceeded the current mandatory national standards.safety technical specifications for electric bicyclesgb 17761-2018) has become an important cause of traffic accidents.

at the industrial level, although the concentration of the electric bicycle industry has continued to increase in recent years, and a number of leading backbone enterprises with annual sales of over 10 billion yuan have emerged, the industry's overall quality assurance capabilities are still relatively weak. many companies lack sufficient r&d investment and design capabilities, and their products are seriously homogenized. in order to reduce production costs, they even use inferior raw materials and reduce testing items, resulting in uneven product quality and a low pass rate in random inspections, which is a gap from the expectations of the people.

“therefore, in the full-chain rectification campaign for electric bicycle safety hazards deployed by the state council, improving the quality and safety standard system is a key task.safety technical specifications for electric bicyclesthe revision will improve the inherent safety level of electric bicycle products, promote the standardized development of the industry, and effectively protect the safety of people's lives and property. "the person in charge said.

the revised content of the draft for comments is more "down-to-earth" than before

the reporter noticed that compared with the current standards, this draft for soliciting opinions has made improvements and upgrades in many aspects.

specifically, for example, the fire retardant performance is improved. the flame retardant requirements and test methods of non-metallic materials used in electric bicycles are improved, and the proportion of plastic parts used is limited, thereby reducing fire risks and improving fire safety performance; at the same time, it is required that the vehicle coding should use high-temperature resistant permanent markings to facilitate the strengthening of full-chain supervision and fire accident tracing investigation and handling.

another example is to better ensure consumers' riding safety. the test methods for the rated power and maximum speed of the motor have been optimized to technically ensure that the maximum design speed cannot exceed 25 kilometers per hour; at the same time, the braking distance requirements have been tightened to reduce the occurrence of collision accidents.

another example is to prevent illegal modification. we have improved the anti-tampering requirements from three aspects: battery pack, controller, and speed limiter, ensured the mutual recognition and coordination between charger, battery, and controller, and vigorously promoted "one car, one battery, one charger, one code", leaving no room for illegal tampering.

lu jinlonghe believes that the revised content of this draft for comments is more down-to-earth than before. he gave an example, saying that the first is the appropriate adjustment of weight, which distinguishes the weight of lithium batteries and lead-acid batteries. considering the gradual expansion of consumers' travel radius in recent years and the low energy density of lead-acid batteries, the vehicle weight limit of lead-acid battery models has been relaxed from 55 kg to 63 kg, which improves the practicality of the product.

“secondly, there is also a clear distinction between electric bicycles that are assisted and those that can be fully electric.”lu jinlongit is said that the draft for comments allows manufacturers to decide whether to install pedals based on the design requirements of the vehicle model, which can also better meet the needs of consumers.

"in addition, we pay more attention to safety, especially in terms of flame retardancy and electrical appliances, and require vehicles to have beidou positioning and dynamic safety monitoring functions. this is also a big improvement compared to the past," he said.

existlu jinlongit seems that after the draft for comments is released, it will attract widespread attention across the country, especially within the industry. "because there is a one-month comment period, we have invited 15 leading companies to hold a meeting to study and discuss the draft for comments." he said that the purpose is to understand the spirit and to make some reasonable suggestions from the industry perspective on this basis.

encourage the gradual elimination of existing old electric bicycles through replacement of old ones with new ones

aforementionedrelevant person in charge of the consumer goods industry department of the ministry of industry and information technologyit is said that after the draft for comments is officially released, it is expected to play a positive role in reducing fire risks, reducing potential traffic accidents, facilitating consumer use, improving product supply quality, and improving active safety performance.

the person in charge said that after the draft for comments is officially released, the majority of electric bicycle manufacturers need to upgrade their technology, equipment and products as soon as possible in accordance with the relevant provisions of the standard so as to meet the requirements of the standard as soon as possible.

the first is to adjust the product design plan as soon as possible, produce new models according to the standard requirements, and verify them according to the test methods in the standard to ensure that the design plan is reasonable and the product quality is qualified.

the second is to improve production processes and equipment, enhance automation and intelligence, meet the requirements of the standards on enterprise quality assurance capabilities and product consistency, and enhance the market competitiveness of enterprises. in addition, it is necessary to increase r&d investment to enhance the core competitiveness of enterprises.

after the new standard is officially implemented, what will happen to the electric bicycles in use that do not meet the new standard? in this regard, the person in charge said that after the new standard is released, companies can implement the new standard and arrange production reasonably.standardization law of the people's republic of chinaarticle 25 stipulates that products that do not meet the mandatory standards shall not be produced, sold or provided. for electric bicycles that do not meet the new standards that consumers have already purchased, the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government will formulate appropriate solutions in accordance with relevant laws and regulations and in light of local conditions, and encourage the gradual elimination of existing old electric bicycles through methods such as trade-in, discount buyback, natural scrapping and scrapping subsidies.

talking about the impact that the new standards will have on the industry after implementation,lu jinlongit is believed that the new national standard has made significant improvements in several aspects. for manufacturing companies, after the introduction of the new national standard, whether it is for domestic sales or overseas sales, product quality, safety and other aspects will be more adapted to the needs of end consumers.

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