Is this the coolest electric bike in the world?

Is this the coolest electric bicycle in the world? Evoking the elegant lines of the board track racing motorcycles of the early twentieth century, the Vintage E-tracker looks unlike any other electric bike on the market.

As standard the £4,995 Vintage e-tracker bike come with a throttle that allows you to control the level of assistance that is fed from the motor to the wheels. In order for the bike to be road legal in Britain you select the pedal assistance mode. An off-road mode allows the bike to reach speeds of up to 32 mph.

Electric mopeds

The British government has a blind spot where electric vehicles are concerned. The £5,000 grant towards plug-in electric cars costing over £20,000 was launched to great fanfare, but a more significant step towards personal electric transport could have been made had the initiative included electric bicycles and mopeds – not least because such vehicles are more affordable to buy and far less reliant on recharging infrastructure.

Under current British law, if an electric bicycle (pedelec) is capable of more than 15.5 mph it is considered a moped. Most fit cyclists on a moderately lightweight bicycle would be capable of prolonged speeds of 16 mph or over, but if that speed is even partially sustained by an electric motor, the law requires the same lights, paperwork and number plate as a moped.

We are decades away from a wholesale switch to electric cars. Electric bicycles and motorcycles are here now.

Our law will soon catch up with the rest of Europe and raise the maximum permissible power for a pedelec to 250W. In the meantime, the 99 per cent of British pedelec riders who ride a 250 W bike can rest assured that the police, Department for Transport and the electric bike insurer ETA, will make allowances until the law finally changes.

Protection for you and your bike

ETA Cycle Insurance never devalues your bike, doesn’t charge extra for things like third party liability, personal accident or friends and family cover, and has a sympathetic policy on storage in sheds and garages.

For 25 years we have been providing straightforward, affordable bicycle insurance and in 2015 we were voted Britain’s most ethical insurer.

Find out more about why we are different. Get an instant quote or call our friendly team on 0333 000 1234.