Over the previous few years, electrical bikes have skyrocketed in reputation (acutely aware choice to not use the phrase exploded there), with some estimates saying that ebike gross sales within the US grew tenfold over the past decade. Whether or not you’re available in the market to your first ebike or are borrowing one out of your native lending library, you is likely to be questioning what an ebike’s class denotes.
There are three designations of ebikes in America—Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3—which can be outlined by a small handful of traits. Whereas most ebikes have a most energy output of 750 watts, it’s a mix of a motorbike’s high pace and the way that pace is achieved that places every ebike into its right class. The three lessons additionally decide the place you may trip your ebike.
Legal guidelines differ state by state, however there may be sufficient crossover to make some normal factors about how and the place you may trip your ebike, relying on its class. “On the subject of ebike lessons, the legal guidelines are actually comparable throughout states,” stated Doug Dahl, communications lead at Goal Zero, a division of the Washington Visitors Fee in Olympia, Washington.
Up to date September 2025: We broadly up to date this explainer.
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Class 1 Electrical Bikes
{Photograph}: Adrienne So
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{Photograph}: Adrienne So
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{Photograph}: Adrienne So
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{Photograph}: Adrienne So
Class 1 ebikes use solely pedal-assist know-how. In different phrases, a rider needs to be powering the bike’s pedals for the electrical motor to kick in. In some situations, Class 1 bikes even have a handlegrip-based or thumb-activated throttle. Nevertheless, these can solely be activated when the rider is pedaling the bike.
Moreover, Class 1 ebikes have a high pace of 20 miles per hour.
In most locations, a Class 1 ebike is authorized to trip nearly wherever you may trip conventional bikes (that are coming to be often called “analog bikes” or the much more annoying “acoustic bikes”), comparable to on greenways, bike lanes, and park paths.
Class 2 Electrical Bikes
{Photograph}: Michael Venutolo-Mantovani
{Photograph}: Michael Venutolo-Mantovani
{Photograph}: Michael Venutolo-Mantovani
{Photograph}: Michael Venutolo-Mantovani
Rad Energy Bikes
RadRunner Max
Along with pedal help, Class 2 ebikes are outfitted with throttles {that a} rider can function even once they aren’t pedaling. Consider a small moped or a really, very sluggish motorbike. So sluggish, in truth, that their high pace is legally regulated to twenty miles per hour.
Like Class 1 ebikes, Class 2 bikes are permitted nearly all over the place. In different phrases, the one distinction between Class 1 and Class 2 ebikes is a throttle that may be operated impartial of the pedal-assist mechanism.
Class 3 Electrical Bikes
{Photograph}: Parker Corridor
{Photograph}: Parker Corridor
{Photograph}: Parker Corridor
With a high pace of 28 miles per hour, Class 3 bikes are probably the most highly effective of all. Nevertheless, given their pace, most states impose heavier restrictions on the place you may trip a Class 3 ebike. Like all bicycle, riders can function a Class 3 ebike on roads, in site visitors lanes, and in road-adjacent bike lanes. Nevertheless, Class 3 bikes are sometimes prohibited on greenways, paths, and in parks.
Some ebikes provide riders the power to toggle between Courses 2 and three, providing extra choices as to the place and the way you would possibly trip your ebike.
Ebike or Electrical Motorbike?
Earlier than going any additional, let’s soar again to the place I made point out of a small moped or a really, very sluggish motorbike. As electrical know-how develops quickly, and states and municipalities intention to maintain up, there may be a number of grey space as to what’s and isn’t an ebike, how these issues differ from scooters, and whether or not or not any of them are mopeds.
A straightforward technique to decide whether or not your ebike is actually an ebike, thereby requiring no further licensing comparable to a bike license or a driver’s license, is to notice the bike’s high pace. If the machine’s electrical motor is able to speeds in extra of 28 miles per hour, it isn’t an ebike, no matter what state you’re in.
