CCTV 315 Gala | Exposes Surging Rental E-Bikes, Names Hellobike and Other Rental E-Bikes Violating New National Standards

On March 15, according to CCTV Finance, it was reported that “the speed can be increased to 40 to 50, 50 to 60 km/h.” The latest national “Electric Bicycle Safety Technical Specification” implemented in 2025 clearly states that the maximum design speed should not exceed 25 km/h, the battery pack label value should not exceed 48 volts, and the motor’s output power should be less than or equal to 400 watts. Data from the Road Traffic Safety Research Center of the Ministry of Public Security shows that traffic accidents caused by electric bicycles account for about 10% of urban road traffic accidents. One of the main reasons is that electric bicycles illegally bypass speed limits and drive at excessive speeds. In live broadcasts, facing many consumers, e-commerce hosts openly promote their non-compliant, high-performance electric bicycles, which can be rented freely. A reporter rented a vehicle from an electric bike rental shop and experienced extreme speeding, with a tested speed of up to 80 km/h.

During the investigation, the reporter found that not only do local individual rental shops violate national standards, but some well-known chain brands do as well. Hello Bike, a leading brand in the electric bicycle rental industry, states on its official website that it has established over 5,000 stores in more than 100 cities nationwide. The reporter visited a physical Hello Bike store for investigation. Staff at the store said that their electric bicycles can reach speeds of up to 75 km/h.

The reporter contacted the provincial recruitment manager, Manager Mi, of Hello Bike under the guise of franchise cooperation. Manager Mi revealed in detail that even before the new national standards were implemented, some electric bicycle channel dealers had already applied for license plates for a large number of unproduced electric bicycles using their certificates of conformity. When customers needed these vehicles, they would have the manufacturers produce vehicles according to the standards before the new national standards took effect. These newly produced electric bicycles naturally became old vehicles before the new standards were introduced, thus avoiding the “one vehicle, one pool, one charging code” mutual recognition and coordination mechanism in the new standards. This also made it easy to lift speed restrictions on the vehicles. The operation method of “Electric Donkey Brother” is even more direct. Manager Wang from the company clearly told the reporter that they uniformly distribute electric motorcycles to various stores, but the vehicles are actually electric bicycles with license plates. These license plates are bought directly, with as many as needed, and at very low prices. (CCTV Finance)