Australian governments are considering mandatory product standards under the Australian Consumer Law for e-bikes, which would ban the sale of non-compliant devices.
I think I take a slightly softer position than you do, because in my view 250 W is a viable alternative to a car the majority of the time. It becomes a problem on very steep hills when carrying heavy loads, but most people are not doing that very often, and a better cycling network buildout (which is always my first priority) would reduce the need for it even further, if people had safe convenient routes around hills that didn’t force them up and over unless either they want to take the shorter, harder route, or their destination is actually on the hill.
But I do still ultimately agree with you. Ideal world, we’d change it to allow them. It’s more accessible to more people, and I cannot see much disadvantage, if the speed regulators work correctly.
I think I take a slightly softer position than you do, because in my view 250 W is a viable alternative to a car the majority of the time. It becomes a problem on very steep hills when carrying heavy loads, but most people are not doing that very often, and a better cycling network buildout (which is always my first priority) would reduce the need for it even further, if people had safe convenient routes around hills that didn’t force them up and over unless either they want to take the shorter, harder route, or their destination is actually on the hill.
But I do still ultimately agree with you. Ideal world, we’d change it to allow them. It’s more accessible to more people, and I cannot see much disadvantage, if the speed regulators work correctly.