Source: Economic Daily
In the production workshop of Jiujiang Chichang Automobile Industry Co., Ltd., Jiujiang Economic and Technological Development Zone, Jiangxi Province, workers are assembling new energy-assisted bicycles. Photo by Wei Dongsheng (Zhongjing Vision)
The mainland is a major producer and consumer of electric bicycles in the world, and by the end of 2023, the number of electric bicycles in the society will exceed 350 million.
Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Emergency Management, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the State Fire and Rescue Administration, has publicly solicited opinions on the latest revision of the mandatory national standard "Technical Specifications for the Safety of Electric Bicycles" (hereinafter referred to as the "Technical Specifications").
According to the relevant person in charge of the Consumer Goods Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the revision will help prevent fire accidents, reduce traffic safety hazards, better meet the daily travel needs of consumers, and promote the high-quality development of the industry.
Promote the development of industry norms
He Penglin, deputy director of the Safety Technology Research Center of China Electronics Standardization Institute, said in an interview with the Economic Daily that compared with the current standards, the highlights of the draft are mainly to improve fire safety, ensure riding safety, respond to the demands of the masses, prevent illegal modifications, and add active protection.
Specifically, in terms of improving fire and flame retardant performance, this revision improves the flame retardant requirements and test methods for non-metallic materials used in electric bicycles, and limits the proportion of plastic parts used, so as to reduce fire risk and improve fire safety performance; At the same time, it is required that the vehicle code should be permanently marked with high temperature resistance, which is convenient for strengthening the whole chain supervision and fire accident traceability investigation and handling.
In terms of better ensuring the safety of consumers, the test methods for the rated power and maximum speed of the motor are optimized to technically ensure that the maximum design speed cannot exceed 25 kilometers per hour; At the same time, the braking distance requirements are tightened to reduce the occurrence of collision accidents.
In terms of meeting the daily travel needs of consumers, manufacturers are allowed to decide whether to install pedal riding devices according to the needs of model design, which is conducive to saving production costs and providing consumers with more model choices. "Considering the gradual expansion of consumer travel radius and the low energy density of lead-acid batteries in recent years, the vehicle weight limit of lead-acid battery models will be relaxed from 55 kg to 63 kg, which will increase the vehicle range by about 20 kilometers." He Penglin said.
In terms of preventing illegal modifications, we will improve the anti-modification requirements from the three aspects of battery packs, controllers, and speed limiters, ensure mutual recognition and coordination between chargers, batteries, and controllers, and vigorously promote "one car, one pool, one charge, one code", and do not leave room for illegal modifications.
In terms of promoting the high-quality development of the industry, the requirements for the production equipment and testing capabilities of electric bicycle enterprises will be increased, and enterprises will be promoted to improve their quality assurance capabilities and product consistency; It is required that the vehicle must have Beidou positioning and dynamic safety monitoring functions to improve the level of product informatization and safety risk prevention capabilities.
Liu Yunzhu, a senior engineer at the China Electronics Standardization Institute, said that the revision is conducive to reducing the risk of fire accidents caused by electric bicycles, improving the intrinsic safety level of electric bicycle products in the mainland, reducing traffic accidents caused by speeding, and will also facilitate the use of consumers and improve the quality of product supply.
Improve the level of intrinsic safety
After years of development, electric bicycles have gradually become an important basic means of transportation for consumers' daily short-distance travel. According to statistics, in 2023, there will be 738 enterprises above designated size in the moped manufacturing industry, including electric bicycles, in the mainland, with an annual output of 42.28 million units, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%, and an average annual growth rate of 11.8% in the past five years.
As the market size continues to expand, the electric bicycle industry has also exposed some problems. Among them, the most prominent is the fire accidents caused by electric bicycles many times in recent years, as well as the existence of traffic safety hazards. According to the National Fire and Rescue Administration, the number of fires caused by electric bicycles reached 18,000 in 2021 and will increase rapidly to 25,000 in 2023, with an average annual growth rate of about 20%; The proportion of e-bike fires in the larger fires in the year has risen rapidly from 5.9% in 2021 to 12.7% in 2023.
In addition, due to the illegal modification of many vehicles, the maximum speed, battery voltage, motor power and other technical indicators exceed the provisions of the current mandatory national standards, which has become an important cause of traffic safety accidents.
It is hoped that through the revision of the "Electric Bicycle Safety Technical Specifications", the intrinsic safety level of electric bicycle products will be improved, the standardized development of the industry will be promoted, and the safety of people's lives and property will be effectively protected.
He Penglin told reporters that in view of the current problems such as insufficient fire and flame retardant performance of non-metallic materials, excessive use of flammable plastic parts, and inconvenient traceability investigation after fire accidents, the new standard has improved the requirements for fire retardant materials, the proportion of plastic parts, the unique code of the whole vehicle and the permanent identification of high temperature resistance, etc., which are helpful for the prevention of electric bicycle fire accidents and the whole chain traceability investigation after the accident.
As the saying goes, "nine out of ten accidents are fast", and excessive speed is the most important factor causing traffic accidents. According to the relevant person in charge of the Consumer Goods Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the draft stipulates that the maximum design speed of electric bicycles shall not exceed 25 kilometers per hour, mainly considering that if the speed is too fast, it will directly increase the probability of traffic accidents. Therefore, controlling the speed of electric bicycles within a reasonable range is an important prerequisite for ensuring traffic safety. When buying and using electric bicycles, consumers should also strictly abide by relevant standards and regulatory requirements, ensure the legality and safety of electric bicycles, and consciously resist the behavior of increasing the top speed through illegal modifications.
In addition, in order to enhance the fire retardant performance of the non-metallic materials used in the electric bicycle, the possibility of fire accidents caused by the ignition of the material by the ignition source is reduced from the source, and the spread speed and intensity of the electric bicycle fire are effectively reduced. The revision clearly stipulates the flame retardant performance of non-metallic materials such as textiles and foam plastics, and further strictly requires the flame retardant performance of non-metallic materials, electrical circuits, electrical components and wires and other key components in direct contact with the battery, so as to improve the fire retardant capacity of the vehicle.
Enhance market competitiveness
In recent years, the concentration of the electric bicycle industry has been increasing, and a number of leading and backbone enterprises with annual sales of more than 10 billion yuan have emerged. However, the overall quality assurance ability of the industry is still weak, many enterprises lack sufficient R&D investment and design capabilities, and the homogenization of products is serious, and even the use of inferior raw materials and reduction of testing items in order to reduce production costs leads to uneven product quality, low sampling pass rate, and there is a gap between the expectations of the people.
"The draft of the new national standard strengthens the quality assurance capabilities and product consistency requirements of production enterprises, will improve the entry threshold of the industry, and help change the current situation of nearly 700 electric bicycle production enterprises 'scattered, chaotic and poor', which is conducive to the concentration of the market to high-quality head enterprises and the elimination of backward enterprises and backward technologies." He Penglin said, "At the same time, we will promote the industry to move towards informatization, intelligence and high-end, and drive the common development of industrial chains such as chargers, new batteries, and Beidou positioning." ”
According to Liu Yunzhu's analysis, the revision has increased the requirements for the product quality assurance ability and product consistency of production enterprises, and clarified the production capacity, inspection and testing and quality control indicators of key processes of electric bicycles. After the implementation of the new standard, it will improve the quality of product supply, promote enterprises to improve the level of production technology and equipment, and improve product quality.
The revision also requires that the vehicle must have a dynamic safety monitoring function, which will improve the informatization level and safety risk prevention ability of electric bicycle products, help promote enterprises to increase R&D investment, enhance the independent research and development capabilities of key components, reduce product disqualification caused by quality defects of key components, and promote enterprises to improve production processes and equipment, enhance the level of automation and intelligence, and enhance market competitiveness.
Will the price of electric bikes increase under the new standard? The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that the sales price of electric bicycles is determined by various factors such as production costs, logistics costs, channel costs, pricing strategies, supply and demand, etc. Among them, production cost is one of the important factors affecting the selling price of the product, but it cannot directly determine the final price of the product. Although the production cost of electric bicycle products produced in accordance with this draft will increase to a certain extent due to the upgrading of the flame retardant performance of plastic parts, the addition of Beidou and communication modules, etc., it will also save the corresponding parts and material costs due to the cancellation of pedal power devices and the reduction of the use of plastic parts. On the whole, the production cost of electric bicycles will remain basically stable after the implementation of the new standard, and the terminal market price will not fluctuate significantly.
He Penglin suggested that electric bicycle manufacturers should adjust the product design scheme as soon as possible, produce models that meet the new standards, and verify them according to the test methods required by the standards to ensure that the scheme design is reasonable and the product quality is qualified. Improve the production process and equipment in a timely manner, enhance the level of automation and intelligence, meet the requirements of the standard on the quality assurance ability and product consistency of the enterprise, and enhance market competitiveness.
"Increase R&D investment, equip the technical equipment and scientific research personnel required for the development of common key technologies, especially improve the independent research and development capabilities of key components, reduce product unqualified conditions caused by quality defects of key components, and enhance the core competitiveness of enterprises." He Penglin said. (Economic Daily reporter Huang Xin Lai Qichun)