3.15 Evening Gala | Rental Electric Bicycles "Going Wild" | "3.15" Calls Out Hellobike and E-Donkey for Renting Electric Bikes

Recently, on major live streaming platforms, some e-commerce hosts have been actively promoting their external rental electric bicycles. Several hosts openly violate national regulations during their live broadcasts, heavily advertising their products as exceeding national standards with speeds that are too fast.

The latest 2025 national “Electric Bicycle Safety Technical Specifications” clearly stipulate: the maximum design speed should not exceed 25 km/h, the battery pack marked value should not exceed 48 volts, and the motor’s output power should be less than or equal to 400 watts. The reason for these regulations is simple: according to data from the Road Traffic Safety Research Center of the Ministry of Public Security, traffic accidents caused by electric bicycles account for about 10% of urban road traffic accidents. That means roughly 1 out of every 10 city traffic accidents is caused by an electric bicycle, mainly due to violations such as exceeding speed limits and illegal speed unlocking.

The national authorities have gathered information from all sectors of society and, from a road safety perspective, established strict management red lines to reduce traffic accidents and protect the lives and property of pedestrians and drivers. However, these e-commerce hosts are introducing “electric bicycles” with parameters far exceeding national standards, posing risks of speeding and becoming hidden dangers on the road.

In live broadcasts, facing numerous consumers, these hosts show no regard for national standards. They openly promote their non-compliant, over-standard electric bicycles, which can be rented freely. Are these claims true? Under the guise of renting, the reporter followed the instructions from the live stream and visited a physical rental store called Black Knight Tribe for an on-site experience.

Staff at Black Knight Tribe Electric Bicycle Rental Store: These bikes can go up to 60, 70 km/h, from 2025 models.

At this store, the reporter successfully rented an electric bicycle and tested it on a safe road segment. Speed testing software showed the bike easily reached 44 km/h, but the speedometer remained fixed at 25 km/h. Confronted with this, the staff openly admitted that this was their way of avoiding regulation.

Staff at Black Knight Tribe Electric Bicycle Rental Store: The speedometer shows 25 km/h, but the actual speed is normal. The speedometer on electric bicycles always shows 25 km/h.

Further investigation revealed that such blatant violations of national standards and evasion of regulation are common in electric bicycle rental shops.

In one rental shop, the tested vehicle reached an extreme speed of 80 km/h. The investigation found that not only 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 across more than 100 cities nationwide. The reporter visited a physical Hello Bike store for investigation.

Staff at Hello Bike Rental Store: Speeds of 50, 60 km/h are enough.

Reporter: What’s the maximum it can go?

Staff at Hello Bike Rental Store: 75 km/h.

Not only does Hello Bike violate national standards by unlocking speed limits, but other well-known electric bicycle rental brands also exhibit similar behaviors.

Staff at Xiaoha Service Center: Honestly, 40 km/h, 50 km/h at most.

Staff at E-Donkey Electric Bicycle Rental: Can reach 70 km/h.

The investigation found that these overspeeding electric bicycles are able to operate freely in the rental market mainly because each vehicle is equipped with an electric bicycle license plate. As non-motorized vehicles, these bikes do not require a driver’s license when on the road. With less road regulation oversight and increased convenience, having a license plate for electric bicycles has made rental business boom.

Reporter: Isn’t a driver’s license required for electric motorcycles?

Staff at Hello Bike Rental Store: Not anymore. Hanging an electric bicycle license plate means you can ride it freely.

Staff at Hello Bike Rental Store: Electric motorcycles don’t have plates.

According to relevant national regulations, the speeds of electric bicycles, electric light motorcycles, and electric motorcycles are clearly distinguished. Electric light motorcycles and electric motorcycles are classified as motor vehicles and must display motor vehicle license plates, with drivers required to hold D, E, or F class licenses.

How are these clearly non-compliant electric bicycles registered with official electric bicycle plates? To find out, the reporter contacted the industry’s leading brand—Hello Bike’s provincial franchise manager, Manager Mi, under the guise of franchise inquiries.

Manager Mi told the reporter that many of their company’s rental electric bicycles exceed the national standards in speed.

Manager Mi: The Xiaogu turtle model can reach over 30 km/h, close to 40 km/h, with a range of 50 to 60 km.

He admitted that although some models rented out do not meet the new national standards and regulations are tightening, they have ways to solve the licensing issues for franchisees and promise that each vehicle can be registered with a proper electric bicycle license plate.

Manager Mi: The biggest hurdle isn’t money, it’s the license. Whatever problems you encounter, we can help solve them.

Reporter: Were the plates registered before?

Manager Mi: The vehicles aren’t even produced yet, but the plates are ready. They are compliant electric bicycle plates, registered before the new regulations came into effect.

Manager Mi revealed a so-called “trick”: before the new national standards were implemented, some electric bicycle channel merchants obtained certificates of conformity for a large number of unproduced bicycles and applied for electric bicycle plates early. When customers needed these vehicles, they had manufacturers produce vehicles according to the old standards, which then became “old bikes” before the new standards. This way, they bypassed the “one vehicle, one pool, one code” recognition mechanism in the new regulations, making it easier to remove speed limits. He said this method has helped many partners with vehicle registration issues.

Manager Mi: That’s the way. The bikes aren’t even produced yet, but the certificates are ready, so they use the certificates to register the plates. The vehicles match the certificates, and the plates are already on. Many of our merchants have certificates.

Compared to Hello Bike’s approach, the operation method of E-Donkey is more direct. Company manager Wang clearly told the reporter that they supply stores with electric motorcycles, but these are fitted with electric bicycle plates. These plates are bought directly, with no limit on quantity and at low prices.

Manager Feng, E-Donkey: About 5 yuan per plate.

Manager Wang, E-Donkey Southwest Region: The plates are bought directly. We sell electric motorcycles that are registered with electric bicycle plates. No one checks; the plates are real, just not linked to consumer info, so they are blank plates.

Pre-registering, buying plates directly, or even forging and using fake plates to hit the road—investigations across multiple locations reveal ongoing evasion of national regulations in the electric bicycle rental industry. Moreover, the batteries used in these “electric bicycles” also exceed national standards. The latest “Electric Bicycle Safety Technical Specifications” clearly state that the battery pack marked value should not exceed 48 volts. However, few compliant batteries are found in these rental shops.

Manager Mi: 60 volts, 30 amp-hours.

Sky Travel Electric Bicycle Rental Store Staff: 60 volts, 30 amp-hours.

Black Knight Tribe Rental Store Staff: 60 volts, 30 amp-hours.