German manufacturer in a celebratory mood: the first 45 km/h recumbent bike receives type approval as a motor vehicle

• The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has given the Speedmachine S-Pedelec from the Hessian manufacturer HP Velotechnik the first recumbent bike to receive a European type approval.
• Actually, the novelty presented in the summer of 2022 should have been rolling on German roads for a long time.
• Until now, each bike had to be presented individually to the TÜV. This is finally over.

A real marathon lies behind the Hessian recumbent specialist HP Velotechnik. Now the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has finally approved the Speedmachine S-Pedelec recumbent bike, which supports up to 45 km/h (for a detailed presentation). It was approved under the type number e1*168/2013*00335*00 and is now officially classified as a light motor vehicle.

HP Velotechnik is now allowed to sell the world’s first recumbent bike with S-Pedelec approval in all European countries and in Switzerland. So if you buy one of the particularly fast recumbents, you only need to buy a small insurance license plate, mount it and you can start your journey. The extreme e-bike promises lots of riding fun.

But what is convenient for consumers – they simply show the so-called CoC paper (Certificate of Conformity) to the insurer – was a real approval marathon for the manufacturer. Managing Director Daniel Pulvermüller also takes the now successful approval as an opportunity to criticize German transport policy. “The innovative S-Pedelecs are being slowed down in Germany,” he says. “While the requirements are being relaxed in other EU countries, Germany is not giving this climate-friendly technology a chance for a broader breakthrough.”

Pulvermüller alludes to the legal framework for driving an S-Pedelec in Germany. In contrast to an e-bike that supports up to 25 km/h, which from a purely legal point of view is still a bicycle, you are not allowed to ride an S-Pedelec on cycle paths. In addition to compulsory insurance, helmets are also compulsory. There are many other regulations, from lights to horns to rear-view mirrors. A driver’s license (class: AM) is also required.

The managing director of HP Velotechnik also responds to the concern of many other road users that the fast S-Pedelecs could become a cycling scare. What may be understandable in individual cases on narrow and poorly built urban cycle paths no longer makes sense next to a four-lane racing track for cars and on wide cycle expressways.

“Other countries in the EU are much more advanced,” says Pulvermüller. Austria recently opened the overland connections in a targeted manner. “In Belgium, sales of speed pedelecs went through the roof after approval”. Many people interested in S-Pedelecs will therefore certainly shy away from a test ride. Also because they often become a traffic obstruction for drivers, who usually drive faster than 45 km/h in urban areas.

Pulvermüller calls on politicians not only to apply the “idea of ​​freedom in the mobility sector” to car traffic, but also to give the S-Pedelec a chance as an effective measure of the traffic turnaround.

Price and availability of the HP Velotechnik Speedmachine S-Pedelec

We have summarized the most important data on the Speedmachine S-Pedelec for you here. Further information is available from the manufacturer. The recumbent bike with 45 km/h support is available from specialist dealers at prices starting at 8,690 euros.