{"id":119483,"date":"2025-12-17T09:35:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T08:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/?p=119483"},"modified":"2025-12-17T10:28:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T09:28:18","slug":"civil-society-and-business-urge-eu-to-harmonise-e-bike-chargers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/de\/civil-society-and-business-urge-eu-to-harmonise-e-bike-chargers\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil society and business urge EU to harmonise electric bicycle chargers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The lack of\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>a\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>standardised<\/span><\/span><\/span> charger\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>is\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>slowing green mobility<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0and<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>fuel<\/span><\/span><\/span>l<\/span><\/span><\/span>ing<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0e-waste<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

19 environmental\u00a0<\/span>NGOs,\u00a0<\/span>consumer organisations, and tourism and mobility businesses [1] urge the European Commission to\u00a0<\/span>harmonise<\/span>\u00a0charging systems for electric bicycles and other light means of transport (LMT), with\u00a0<\/span>a joint letter sent to Commissioner Roswall [2].<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The lack of standardization of charging connectors is needlessly slowing Europe\u2019s green transformation. A common charger would lower costs for fleet operators, reduce safety risks, improve repairability, prevent electronic waste, and facilitate the roll-out of both private and public charging infrastructures.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To make the use of electric bicycles and other LMT safer and more practical, NGOs and businesses demand a legally defined uniform charging plug. Such a requirement could be introduced in line with EU legislation that has already proven effective in harmonising charging solutions, e.g. for portable electrical devices and electric cars. Legal rules for electric bicycles and other LMT may be introduced into the EU <\/span>Battery Regulation\u00a0or\u00a0the\u00a0Ecodesign\u00a0for Sustainable Products\u00a0Regulation\u00a0(ESPR).<\/p>\n

Proprietary charging connectors\u00a0tied to individual\u00a0manufacturers often leave users stranded when chargers are overpriced,\u00a0incompatible\u00a0or no longer available.\u00a0Consumers risk damaging their device or causing a fire hazard if they use the wrong charger.\u00a0Customers, companies, and municipalities\u00a0investing in\u00a0public charging infrastructure\u00a0remain fully\u00a0depended\u00a0on\u00a0suppliers\u00a0using closed systems. A common charging plug\u00a0would\u00a0give\u00a0municipalities\u00a0greater planning certainty, support\u00a0companies\u00a0in rolling out electric bicycle fleets, and\u00a0significantly improve the durability, repairability and lifespan of electric bicycles\u00a0and other LMT.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fynn\u00a0Hauscke,\u00a0Senior Policy Officer,\u00a0Circular Economy and Waste, European Environmental Bureau (EEB), says:\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIt is unacceptable that\u00a0some\u00a0consumers\u00a0are forced to abandon perfectly functional e-bikes simply because a charger is no longer available. The lack of a common standard is also creating safety risks and unnecessary e-waste. With industry\u00a0failing to act, regulation is now\u00a0urgently\u00a0needed.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Barbara Metz,\u00a0Managing Director,\u00a0Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche\u00a0Umwelthilfe\u00a0\u2013 DUH):\u00a0<\/span>\u201cA<\/span><\/i>s an environmentally friendly alternative to cars, electric bikes offer enormous potential for the mobility transition.\u00a0To\u00a0motivate as many people as possible to switch from cars to electric bikes, their use must be made as attractive as possible.\u00a0To enable public and private infrastructures, the Commission must standardize the charging plug for electric bicycles and other light means of transport.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Notes to editor<\/h4>\n

[1]\u00a0Supporting organisations:\u00a0European Environmental Bureau (EEB),\u00a0Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe \u2013 DUH),\u00a0Bundesverband\u00a0der\u00a0Deutschen\u00a0Tourismuswirtschaft,\u00a0CANOPEA,\u00a0Clean Air London,\u00a0Clean Cities,\u00a0Deutscher Naturschutzring, Deutscher\u00a0Tourismusverband, Environmental Coalition on Standards\u00a0(ECOS), Electric Vehicles Technology Collaboration Program, Habitat for Humanity Hungary,\u00a0Leveg\u00f6\u00a0Munkacsoport,\u00a0Milieukontakt\u00a0Albania,\u00a0<\/span>NABU, Respire,\u00a0Transport & Environment,\u00a0Verkehrsclub\u00a0Deutschland,\u00a0Verkehrsclub\u00a0\u00d6sterreich<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>2Celsius.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] Joint letter:\u00a0<\/span>Civil society and business call for EU-wide standard e-bike charger<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The lack of\u00a0a\u00a0standardised charger\u00a0is\u00a0slowing green mobility\u00a0and\u00a0fuelling\u00a0e-waste\u00a0 19 environmental\u00a0NGOs,\u00a0consumer organisations, and tourism and mobility businesses [1] urge the European Commission to\u00a0harmonise\u00a0charging systems for electric bicycles and other [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":119484,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[138,4,140,137,139],"tags":[613,1015,1014,329,1018,1016,713,1017],"class_list":["post-119483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-circular-economy","category-press-release","category-product-policy","category-resource-efficiency","category-waste-recycling","tag-batteries","tag-charger","tag-e-bike","tag-ecodesign","tag-electric-bicycles","tag-green-mobility","tag-green-transition","tag-light-means-of-transport"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/pexels-damir-15884318-e1765885211296.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}