If Electric bikes are still in their infancy, then the laws that govern them are downright fetal. Most US states have lagged far behind the public's understanding of an ebike versus a moped or electric motorcycle. Efforts to codify these differences started with simple yet initially unanswerable questions: Are ebikes legal in bike lanes? What about in parks? How fast can I go? Few states had a definitive answer, and most disagreed with each other.
The ebike industry and more than half of US states have since coalesced around a common, though broad, system—Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3—which is championed by PeopleForBikes, an American trade association. Still, check your local laws for ebike compliance if you're concerned. You're unlikely to get pulled over for going 22 miles per hour in a bike lane or for using an ebike in the wrong lane, especially if it looks like a regular bike, but it's still better to be safe.
Below, we break down what each class of electric bike means, the different types of electric vehicles, and more so you know exactly what you're getting into. All of our examples below are ebikes that we recommend based on our team's firsthand testing.
Updated October 2023: We've updated information on how laws differ from state to state and recommended new ebikes in all three categories.
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Class 1 ebikes are limited to a top speed of 20 miles per hour, and the electric motor works only when the rider is pedaling. A bike with an electric motor that assists only during pedaling is called a pedelec.
Some bikes have a throttle on the handlebars that offers an extra power boost, but on Class 1 ebikes the throttle works only if you're also pedaling. You don't have to be pedaling very hard, though. You can throw it into a low gear and just free-spin the pedals forward slowly and that's enough to let the throttle work.
Class 1 ebikes are allowed on bike paths and bike lanes that are shared with traditional, non-assisted bikes—what we've started to call analog bikes.
Examples of Class 1 Ebikes:
Class 2 ebikes are also limited to a top speed of 20 miles per hour, but they have throttles that work when you're not pedaling. That doesn't mean the motor won't assist you if you decide to pedal. Most Class 2 ebikes offer electrically assisted pedaling alongside throttles. As with Class 1 ebikes, you can generally ride them in the same places as an analog bike.
Examples of Class 2 Ebikes:
- Lectric XP 3.0 for $999
- Wing Freedom 2.2 (with optional throttle) for $1,099
- Aventon Soltera.2 for $1,399
Here's where it gets confusing. Class 3 ebikes can go up to 28 miles per hour and must have a speedometer, but they may or may not have a throttle. It depends on the state writing the rules. California, for example, doesn't allow Class 3 ebikes to have throttles at all. In other states, throttles are allowed as long as they only work up to 20 miles per hour, while pedal-assisted electric power continues up to 28 miles per hour. Most states let you take a Class 3 ebike into road lanes or a bike-only lane on the shoulder of the road (so-called curb-to-curb). But you can't take them on bike paths or on multi-use trails shared with pedestrians, like in a park.
A few ebikes try to work around these restrictions by adding a mode that limits the speed to 20 miles per hour so you can ride them on multi-use trails and paths. Toggle the setting or remove a special physical key to unlock the bike's full potential.
Examples of Class 3 Ebikes:
There's also an unregulated trend of ebike manufacturers doing whatever they want. Did you know that there are ebikes that go 60 miles per hour? At that point, they're basically electric motorcycles with superfluous pedals attached. A growing number of very fast ebikes are capable of blowing past 28 miles per hour and yet still have found a way to technically, legally, fit into the classification system with a switchable setting and a little rider cooperation.
It's the honor system. A lot of ebikes, like the Wing Freedom 2 and X, will let you remove the top-speed restriction in exchange for a promise that you won't ride them in bike lanes. Or they'll give you a notice that you should only unlock them if you're on private property. Unlocking is easy and is usually done through the bike's display screen or, if the bike has one, a companion app. Most only go a few miles per hour over their class limit, but others, such as the HPC Black Lightning, can go much faster than 28 miles per hour. It's how some manufacturers can sell a 40 mile-per-hour ebike with a motor many times more powerful than normal and still be compliant. You toggle a setting and suddenly it's a Class 2 or 3 ebike, at least by legal definitions.
Don't use ebikes unlocked on a bike path or around parks with pedestrians if they aren't set up to comply with local regulations. You don't want to mow anyone down, and for your own sake, you shouldn't be going so fast that you don't have time to react when an inevitable person, pigeon, or Porsche wanders into your path.
The terminology of these electric vehicles has gotten out of hand because everything these days has wheels. Laws vary by state and country, but ebikes still fall into a murkier legal gray area than most vehicles. First off, ebikes are not a kind of scooter.
Ideally, we'd refer to kick scooters, like the Unagi Model One Voyager (8/10, WIRED Recommends), as scooters and call things like Vespas "mopeds." A moped is already a common term for these. And you're unlikely to mix up an ebike and an electric kick scooter, which has much smaller wheels and requires you to stand instead of sit.
As with electric motorcycles, e-mopeds don't have pedals. Most states classify these as scooters rather than motorcycles if they have a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour and, if gas-powered, a maximum engine displacement of 50 cubic centimeters. You generally don't need a motorcycle license to drive a moped if it tops out at 30 miles per hour, but you do need a regular driver's license.
The difference between an ebike and an electric motorcycle largely centers on the fact that an ebike has pedals and a motorcycle doesn't. Even fast, nonclassed ebikes are technically considered bicycles in many US states because they have pedals. Legislators haven't given much thought to 40-mile-per-hour ebikes because they're uncommon. For now, they're in legal limbo in a lot of places.
Most states have put in the work to understand and codify the differences between ebikes and motor scooters. Compared to three years ago, when eight states flat-out classified ebikes as mopeds or motor vehicles and not bicycles at all, now only two do so. Sorry, Alaska and Rhode Island. Laws are ever-changing, which is all the more reason for you to look up local state and city laws before you buy an ebike, especially a high-powered or fast one.
The Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and National Forest Service all control different swaths of federal land and have their own rules for which ebikes can be ridden where. Read up before you take a trip with your ebike.
Now that you know the differences, check out WIRED's guide to the Best Electric Bikes to find our favorites. Happy riding!
