Two-wheeled transport for RV and van owners

The rapid acceptance of e-bikes and e-scooters has changed the way campers can move around a district, without the need to disturb their campsite and risk losing a spot. 

We’ve all done it: set up a campsite on the edge of a bush town and then remembered something necessary from a shop. That meant packing everything up again, or uncoupling the tow vehicle from the van, to drive into town on that errand. 

Another situation where auxiliary transport can be handy is wanting to tour around a destination, without having to break camp, or worry about parking a large vehicle in restricted spaces.

We’ve seen caravans with small two-seat motor-scooters strapped to their back walls, but that’s not an ideal solution, because of weight distribution issues and strain on the van body and chassis.

Fit people often brought push bikes with them as auxiliary transport for these forays, but the elderly or infirm didn’t have that ability. The advent of electric two-wheel bikes and scooters has changed that entirely. Now it’s possible to whizz around a location with relative ease.

People who would never have considered push bikes, kick-scooters or motor-scooters as auxiliary transport are having great fun with e-mobility two-wheelers. 

However, there are constraints on their use in different Australian states and territories, as the following late-2024 table illustrates. Also, there may be travel insurance ramifications, unless such auxiliary transport is noted in the policy.

Although Australian bureaucrats are nervous about the implementation of e-bike and e-scooter mobility, that’s a reservation not shared by most governments around the world. Sure, there are accident statistics that cite such mobility devices as high-risk, but any two-wheeled transport that has to share road space with larger vehicles is at risk.

By way of comparison, China is home to a staggering 400 million – 400 million – e-scooters and e-bikes, and produced around 45 million new ones in 2023. Two-wheelers are by far the most common form of transport in most parts of Asia and SEA.

In 2012 the Australian Government adopted the European standard (EN 15194: 2009 or EN 15194:2009+A1:2011), making ‘ped-elec’ electric bikes federally legal in Australia. This is now the most common type of electric bike used in Australia. 

According to its legal definition, a ped-elec bike must be able to function by pedalling alone, but it also has an electric motor to assist the rider’s pedal effort. If it doesn’t have pedals, it’s a moped or a motorbike and different laws apply. Ped-elecs equipped with a throttle that starts the motor without pedalling, up to 6km/h, are also allowed.

Ped-elecs can have a maximum power output of 250W (500W in NSW), while other electric bikes are capped at 200W. Ped-elec motors must cut out once the bike reaches a speed of 25km/h. You can go faster, by pedalling harder or going downhill, but you still need to observe speed limits for roads and shared paths, like other cyclists or scooter riders.

Battery issues

Well publicised e-bike and e-scooter fires have put many people off buying these machines, but quality models don’t have the same issues. Fires during charging are nearly always caused by poor quality batteries and/or charging components and procedures. 

Beware the cheapie e-scooter or e-bike and expect to pay at least two grand for a quality machine. Many top-shelf e-scooters and e-bikes cost more than twice that much. Make sure you buy from a dealer and that the machine comes with a warranty.

Fire authorities recommend that battery charging is done using a dedicated power outlet – not shared at the same time with several other appliances – and is done in a garage or other outside area.

In the case of e-scooters and e-bikes, charging can be done outside the RV or van interior and should be under some form of supervision – not under the van overnight! Using a charger other than the one supplied with the machine is extremely hazardous.

Which e-bike or e-scooter for you

By far the most significant purchasing criterion for RV, camper trailer and caravan owners is where to stow the things when you’re in transit. Electric bikes and scooters have batteries, connections, wiring and motors that shouldn’t be exposed to dust and rain. 

We wouldn’t recommend any stowing ‘solution’ that involves open-air storage. Even if the batteries are removable, there’s still a lot of electrical and electronic componentry that needs to be protected from the elements.

So, where can you pack your e-mobility devices? Obviously, an e-scooter packs into a smaller space than an e-bike, even a folding e-bike. Scooters are also lighter weight, making handling them a lot easier.

One of the OTA team couples have non-folding bikes that they fit into the back of a crew-cab ute, inside a canopy. That necessitates spinning off the front wheels of both bikes and unclipping the handlebars on one bike: a 10-minute operation.

Before settling on this storage solution they experimented with stowing the bikes inside their caravan, but that meant lifting them out every time they wanted to enter the van and also posed a storage issue outside, meaning they had to be locked to the van; out in the weather.

It’s important to sort out your storage solution before you purchase your e-mobility machine.

Getting an idea of what’s available is best done on-line, by checking out sites such as Ride Electric, which hosts several brands of e-bikes and e-scooters.

For campers, who navigate roads that lack proper edges and footpaths, and probably ride on bush tracks, it’s important to get an e-scooter or e-bike with large wheels and fat tyres – preferably at least 10-inches in diameter. Tiny wheels don’t like bumps and potholes. 

We’d also suggest a unit with some form of suspension, to help iron out the inevitable bumps!

Riders who are used to pedalling conventional road or mountain bikes will find that folding e-bikes and e-scooters lack precision handling and can be very sensitive to surface irregularities. The stipulated e-mobility legal speed of 25km/h is realistic, we reckon and higher speeds come with greatly increased accident hazards.

We’re not bike or scooter experts, so we’re not recommending any particular make or model. Consult the pros and take their advice and maybe check out some of the more responsible on-line forums.