pedelec

See also: Pedelec

English

Etymology

From German Pedelec, a shortening of pedal electric.

Noun

pedelec (plural pedelecs)

1. (informal) A bicycle with an electric motor which assists the rider but only while they are pedalling.
   • 2013, Michael Hülsmann, Dirk Fornahl, Evolutionary Paths Towards the Mobility Patterns of the Future, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 126:

     The need of using the pedelec as a multipurpose vehicle was also discussed: As far as the infrastructure was concerned, the central issues were battery change and battery loading stations as well as a possible leasing model for batteries because they were considered to be the most expensive spare spart of the bike.

   • 2024, Marjolein Boele-Vos & Ingrid van Schagen (SWOV), European Commission (2024). Road safety thematic report – Cyclists. European Road Safety Observatory. Brussels, European Commission, Directorate General for Transport., European Union,:

     In this report cyclists are defined as users of a conventional bicycle or a pedelec/e-bike, i.e., an electric powered bicycle offering pedal assistance up to approximately 25 km/h

   • 2024, Marjolein Boele-Vos & Ingrid van Schagen (SWOV), European Commission (2024). Road safety thematic report – Cyclists. European Road Safety Observatory. Brussels, European Commission, Directorate General for Transport., European Union,:

     In this report, cyclists are defined as users of a conventional bicycle or an e-bike, formally called pedelec. A conventional bike is solely human-powered while an e-bike is a bicycle that delivers power when the cyclist pushes the pedals up to a speed of 25 km/h. This report does not deal with users of speed pedelecs. Speed pedelecs offer pedal assistance up to 45 km/h, and are therefore legally categorised as a moped.

   • 2024, Marjolein Boele-Vos & Ingrid van Schagen (SWOV), European Commission (2024). Road safety thematic report – Cyclists. European Road Safety Observatory. Brussels, European Commission, Directorate General for Transport., European Union,:

     At intersections, the crash involvement of pedelecs was twice as high compared to the conventional bicycle; car drivers did not give priority to the pedelec

Derived terms

• speed pedelec

 

Translations

electrically assisted bicycle

• Dutch: elektrische fiets m or f
• Finnish: sähköavusteinen polkupyörä
• French: pédélec (fr) m
• German: Pedelec (de) n
• Japanese: 電動アシスト自転車 (ja) (dendō ashisuto jitensha)
• Polish: Pedelec (pl) m

See also

• EAPC
• e-bike, ebike