Licences for e-bikes in Beijing and elsewhere

[DavyJonesLocker]

8 hours ago, ChTTay said:

You don’t need a license to buy an eBike. You do need to register your eBike with authorities and then put your  license plate on it. 

.

Do you know if only Beijing needs a diver license now? No other city?

 

Admin note: Topic split from here by Lu.

[DavyJonesLocker]

1 hour ago, eliaso said:

as most big cities these days ban motorcycles.

 

it's not banned in Beijing . Didn't think it was in Shanghai unless something changed recently.

However driving in winter in Harbin doesn't sound appealing! Beijing is tough enough!

[ChTTay]

@DavyJonesLocker Do you mean the license / registration plate rather than having “a license”?

 

As above, Beijing doesn’t need a driving license for eBikes. By that I mean, you don’t need to pass any kind of test and you don’t get a card or paper “license”. The license plate is just given to you for providing basic info about you and your bike. 

 

You just need to register the bike. An orange 临京 plate is a temporary license with a validity of 3 years. You get one of these if your bike can’t meet the criteria for a permanent license plate. One of the key features needed to get the permanent one (white) is that your eBike needs to actually have pedals. They’re trying to phase out all these high powered ones (like mine) because, as you don’t need a driving license right now, anyone can just get on and drive one without any kind of testing or training. 

 

Not sure about smaller cities. I know Shanghai has had this in place for a while. 

 

Beijing hasnt banned motorcycles per se BUT they are prohibitively expensive if you want to drive within the (I think) 3rd ring road. For that you need a 京A license plate which is extremely expensive. A 京B plate is much cheaper but you can’t go into the city legally. If found you will get a fine and, I guess, run the risk of having your bike taken off you. You can actually see signs in Chinese at certain points that say Jing B bikes are prohibited beyond this point. 

[eliaso]

25 minutes ago, ChTTay said:

For that you need a 京A license plate which is extremely expensive.

 

I saw a Harley-Davidson with Beijing A plate in Chengdu two years ago. A friend told me the price of that plate, which was... a lot. Something in the ballpark of 20,000 usd or so? ChTTay, do you know the exact figure?

 

All this talk about legal and illegal. You could probably ride an unregisteredl bike or a bike with plates from some rural area in Harbin, and probably get away with it. However, I wouldn't risk it myself. That's just me. My general feeling is that things are getting more and more strict on every area of life. Local friends used to have a motorcycle club and ride all sorts of "illegal" bikes here. Custom bikes with no plates, plates from somewhere else, plates that were expired etc. They only went to ride in the city during night time and these days, as far as I know, they don't even really do that anymore.

[Flickserve]

Must be that social credit system taking the fun out of things.

[ChTTay]

I’ve heard crazy figures for Jing A motorbike licenses (like 100k+) but I’ve not idea if that’s accurate! 20k seems more likely. Think JingB is about 5k. 

 

I don't have a motorbike but did consider it until I read they removed any English options from the tests. I’ll stick with electric bikes I guess. 

[eliaso]

Asked a friend. He said Beijing A plates are between 200,000 to 300,000 RMB. Shanghai premium ones are apparently 400,000. Tried to Baidu as well but didn't find a straight out answer and remembered why I loathe trying to find info in Chinese language internet in matters like these... it's all just a mess.

[DavyJonesLocker]

4 hours ago, ChTTay said:

@DavyJonesLocker Do you mean the license / registration plate rather than having “a license”?

 

As above, Beijing doesn’t need a driving license for eBikes. By that I mean, you don’t need to pass any kind of test and you don’t get a card or paper “license”. The license plate is just given to you for providing basic info about you and your bike. 

 

You just need to register the bike. An orange 临京 plate is a temporary license with a validity of 3 years. You get one of these if your bike can’t meet the criteria for a permanent license plate. One of the key features needed to get the permanent one (white) is that your eBike needs to actually have pedals. They’re trying to phase out all these high powered ones (like mine) because, as you don’t need a driving license right now, anyone can just get on and drive one without any kind of testing or training. 

 

Not sure about smaller cities. I know Shanghai has had this in place for a while. 

 

Beijing hasnt banned motorcycles per se BUT they are prohibitively expensive if you want to drive within the (I think) 3rd ring road. For that you need a 京A license plate which is extremely expensive. A 京B plate is much cheaper but you can’t go into the city legally. If found you will get a fine and, I guess, run the risk of having your bike taken off you. You can actually see signs in Chinese at certain points that say Jing B bikes are prohibited beyond this point. 

 

 

The rule change recently. Unless I'm very much mistaken you need a driving licence to buy a, scooter etc. I asked in the shop a few months ago and they suggested the same thing.

Same to be noted here too 

http://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2018/06/07/beijing-e-bikes-will-require-license-drive-limited-speeds-under-15kmh

 

I didn't look into it any further as I have one

 

The A plate is unnecessary. I drive 3 times or more into the centre, guomao,cbd and I have the B plate.  The official rule is nowhere within the 4th ring road nor on any of the ring roads but it's almost completey ignored. I just wouldn't ride on the 2nd or 3rd.

 

There are thousands of B plates in central Beijing . I drive 90k a day to work during the summer on the ring roads. In fact I just got back from chaoyang gongyuan to south Beijing. 25k trip either way. I  always pass police cars (3 today) and have been waved through several times at road blokes etc. 

They don't take the bike off you. They can give you 200kuai fine and 3 points which oddly you can sell to someone else (which I really don't get) .

I'd you have a helmet, bike in good order, no pillion or their isn't a crackdown or government meeting (which you see on a website in advance) the chances of getting caught are pretty slim. 

 

edit：currently pouring myself a whiskey after driving on the ring roads at night?

[ChTTay]

It says electric bicycles will need a driving license but that e-bikes will just need to be registered and have a license plate.

 

E-bikes are the electric scooter type bikes, right? They’re the ones that I’m talking about above. 

 

My friend bought an electric scooter this week and it was fine. Normal. He’s applied for his license plate already. 

 

Edit: it pains me that thebeijinger is both a good source of information and the main source of misinformation for English language Beijing news. 

[DavyJonesLocker]

14 minutes ago, ChTTay said:

 

The vast majority of bikes are e-bikes. They’re the ones that I’m talking about above. 

 

Ah you mean the one with the pedals? OK that's the confusion then, mopeds , scooters etc. I.e. battery powered  do need a driving licence. (Just asked my chinese biker mates). Although I wonder how many 快递 actually went and got one. 

Theory and practice and very different on China if course!

 

 

14 minutes ago, ChTTay said:

My friend bought an electric scooter this week and it was fine. Normal. He’s applied for his license plate already. 

 

now I am even more confused as I just asked my biker mates and they said you need one and my local shop told me the same thing, i.e. as an actual driving licence.

 

 

 

[ChTTay]

Nice to have shops and friends that back you up on Internet forums 

[DavyJonesLocker]

12 minutes ago, ChTTay said:

Nice to have shops and friends that back you up on Internet forums 

 

Not being difficult mate, just trying to clear up where the confusion is given your frind managed to buy one.  

 

edit: ok see here, point 2 and 3
http://m.qqddc.com/html/m/201812/news_50243.html

 

from April 15th so it looks like your friend might still need a licence if its a electric scooter or electric motorbike 

seems to apply to all of China if I am reading it correctly

 

 

[mackie1402]

In Hangzhou all ebikes (mopeds) over 25km per hour and 55kg are banned now. Most people had what is now classed as an illegal ebike, so there was a grace period the last few months where they would give your bike a 3 year license plate as long as you signed up before the end of March. I got mine no problem. You just had to queue up at one of those police traffic boxes, fill out a form and get a picture taken with your bike and new license plate, then it was all done. If you still don't have a license for your ebike now and it doesn't meet the standards, then it gets confiscated for good. Not wearing a helmet is also a finable offence now. 

Also, the only need for a driver's license is for motorbikes, but they're impossible to get plates for in Hangzhou, so motorbike are basically non-existent here. 

 

This photo shows the queue when I went to get a plate for my bike last month.