Purchasing EUCs while living in Germany

[2disbetter]

I'm an American living in Germany. I'm not trying to break the law or anything like that. I just wanted to ask about how legitimate it is for EU companies to send EUCs with such powerful motors and batteries? If I order something from mywheel.com or Oneride.eu will it actually reach me with customs (Zoll) interference? 

I actually bought a Veteran Sherman Max with the hopes of shipping it here, but USPS will not because of the weight. So it is staying in the US for now. However, getting a Sherman is something I'd really like to do. Can I really buy an EUC and receive it from these EU companies? 

[Chriull]

1 hour ago, 2disbetter said:

mywheel.com

This domain is up for sale.

1 hour ago, 2disbetter said:

Oneride.eu

They mention that they have european warehouses! No idea were they are located legally?

_If_ they sell/send from the european warehouse toll is no problem. Depending on their company seat there could just be no europian customer protection. Return adress would also be advantageous to know before - as you mentioned shipping of EUCs at your cost can be hard to find and expensive.

But there are many "real" european shops like 1radwerkstadt.de (are they still active - did not here from them for long times?), eunicycle.eu,...

Some located in germany - maybe around the corner of you?

A longer, maybe not fully up to date list is in 

 

Edited January 10, 2023 by Chriull

[2disbetter]

Thank you! I haven't found any German distributor that sells Veterna, for example. I'm just worried that items coming from Bulgaria and Latvia will be flagged, and customs would confiscate the wheel. I would hope that even though the wheel goes faster than is legal, that I am still given the ability to ride it on private property, etc. 

I just want to confirm that I should be able to order the EUCs and receive them here in Germany. 

[Chriull]

4 minutes ago, 2disbetter said:

I'm just worried that items coming from Bulgaria and Latvia will be flagged, and customs would confiscate the wheel.

It's very long times since the iron curtain dropped - both countries are since more than a decade full members of the EU. That's (amongst other things) an economic alliance as the states of the usa - no fear of tolls or confiscation necessary.

10 minutes ago, 2disbetter said:

I would hope that even though the wheel goes faster than is legal,

Afaik all eucs are illegal in germany.

10 minutes ago, 2disbetter said:

that I am still given the ability to ride it on private property, etc. 

This is no problem.

11 minutes ago, 2disbetter said:

I just want to confirm that I should be able to order the EUCs and receive them here in Germany. 

As written there are some/many serious online resellers seated within the EU.

You can check reports by googling this site with the search term:

Sitesite:forum.electricunicycle.org reseller-name

[meepmeepmayer]

Owning a EUC is perfectly legal, and there is no basis for stopping anybody from getting one. People order from China (often sellers with EU warehouses, but often enough real imports) from a lot of European countries, and I haven't heard of a single case where it didn't work out because of customs or such things. So you can buy from anywhere that will ship to you (which is why you can't buy from the North America based sellers from here). Naturally, buying from a EU shipper makes sense because then the import has already happened and you don't have to worry about it.

I don't believe there are any EU-internal custom checks. Single market and all that. Any EU distributor sends you your wheel and you'll get the package without anybody else checking it. Anyways, it's moot, no basis for stopping the package if someone were to check (and know what they are looking at, which isn't going to happen).

There's like 3 levels of why you won't have a problem there

In Germany, riding in public is either a grey area or not allowed, depending on how you want to see it. And whether that matters in practice is another question. It's unrelated to buying a EUC though.

(The Bulgarian seller is https://myewheel.com/ with an "e".)

[meepmeepmayer]

If you are looking for a seller, we have a forum for that. Feel free to ask and check there.

https://forum.electricunicycle.org/forum/74-where-to-buy/

[2disbetter]

Thank you for confirming that. I actually have a Inmotion V12 HT that is supposed to be showing up tomorrow. I'll let everyone know how that goes. I got that through Amazon though. 

It would be excellent if some of our German members could comment on what EU reseller they would recommend. I'd really like a Veteran. 

Edit: Based on what I can tell, myewheel out of Bulgaria is recommended. I had no idea that Bulgaria was part of the EU.

Edit #2: They've been a member since 2007. Nice. 

Edited January 10, 2023 by 2disbetter

[meepmeepmayer]

EUCsale https://eucsale.com/euc-transport/ should also be good. Denis Hagov (the guy behind it) has quite the Youtube presence https://www.youtube.com/@TheHagov/videos

I'm sure there are other EU shops selling Veteran wheels, but I know none.

[2disbetter]

Thanks! I have the V12 HT coming today. I'm excited. Also just really good to know that the EUC retailers are able to ship here. I thought that the laws would be more restrictive than that. Glad to be wrong. 

[Mono]

That's the good part: you are free to buy an EUC in Germany. Now the bad part: operating the EUC on public ground constitutes a criminal offense and then the authorities are free to confiscate what you bought. Fortunately, it's not common. I suspect that the slower you ride and the less your appearance is that of a motorcyclist, the better are your chances to get a pass.

[Funky]

So generally speaking - if you see police turn around and ride other away.. Or take a long way around, so they don't see you..

Or ride as you don't see them.  And by no means stop for them. Joke, joke.. But honestly would you wanna stop for them, if the possibility is getting you're EUC taken?

Edited January 12, 2023 by Funky

[2disbetter]

9 hours ago, Funky said:

So generally speaking - if you see police turn around and ride other away.. Or take a long way around, so they don't see you..

Or ride as you don't see them.  And by no means stop for them. Joke, joke.. But honestly would you wanna stop for them, if the possibility is getting you're EUC taken?

Yep, I feel like being able to proficient with the wheel before having to deal with any of this situation would be helpful. Finding a place to practice where it is ok, but is still large enough is a real challenge in Germany. 

But to answer your question, yes I would, because the alternative is other complications. Becoming a fugitive ain't really my master plan. Hahahaha. 

I wonder how it is in the Netherlands. Will the cops there just take it as well. Basically what country do I need to go to, in order to ride this legally? Hahahaha.

[Mono]

4 hours ago, 2disbetter said:

I wonder how it is in the Netherlands. Will the cops there just take it as well. Basically what country do I need to go to, in order to ride this legally? Hahahaha.

I suspect the Netherlands is not much different from Germany. If you want to ride legally up to 25km/h, you can go to Belgium or France (where you would officially need insurance, for Belgium I don't know). I have ridden in all of these countries without much of a hassle.

For more detailed infos on legality in different countries start at

 

[mhpr262]

On 1/13/2023 at 9:58 AM, 2disbetter said:

Basically what country do I need to go to, in order to ride this legally? Hahahaha.

I have read quite a few posts by riders from Austria who said that while EUCs are illegal to ride on public roads there too, the police will almost never hassle you... as long as you ride responsibly. If you do get stopped it is usually because the police officers are intrigued by the wheel and want to ask you questions.