New California invoice to require license plates for electrical bikes

A newly launched invoice in California may dramatically change how electrical bikes are handled below state regulation – and it could put license plates on most e-bikes.

Meeting Invoice 1942launched by Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, would require all Class 2 and Class 3 electrical bicycles to be registered with the California Division of Motor Autos and to show a particular license plate issued by the DMV.

Underneath present California regulation, e-bikes are divided into three courses: Class 1 (pedal help as much as 20 mph or 32 km/h), Class 2 (throttle-equipped as much as 20 mph or 32 km/h), and Class 3 (pedal help as much as 28 mph or 45 km/h). These classifications, established practically a decade in the past, had been particularly designed to deal with e-bikes extra like bicycles than motor autos. Which means no registration, no insurance coverage, and no license plates – one of many key causes e-bikes have turn out to be such an accessible different to driving. They’re as hassle-free as a bicycle whereas being simpler to journey.

AB 1942 would change that for Class 2 and Class 3 fashions, which make up doubtless over 90% of the road-legal electrical bikes within the state. Riders would want to register their bikes, receive a plate, and carry proof of possession tied to the bike’s serial quantity. Working a Class 2 or 3 e-bike with out registration would turn out to be an infraction punishable by fines. The invoice would additionally create an Electrical Bicycle Registration Fund to gather charges and fund the administration of this system.

Commercial – scroll for extra content material

The invoice, whereas nonetheless in committee with a methods to go earlier than doubtlessly changing into regulation, joins a rising pattern in the direction of e-bike crackdowns in lots of states.

Supporters argue the California invoice is about accountability and public security, pointing to rising considerations about reckless driving and accidents. However right here’s the rub: this proposal doesn’t simply goal unlawful, high-powered “e-motos” or modified bikes that exceed the 750-watt restrict. It applies to completely authorized class 2 and sophistication 3 e-bikes – the identical commuter bikes utilized by mother and father, college students, and supply employees throughout the state. These are absolutely authorized electrical bicycles which have all the time been legally thought of bicycles, not autos.

Sadly, it seems that the invoice’s creator, Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahn, doesn’t fairly perceive that. In a press convention asserting the brand new laws, she described the invoice whereas making a variety of factual errors, explaining that “the invoice we launched at the moment is extremely easy. It says that the category 2 and the category 3 e-bikes, those with the throttles, those that may both be modified to or do go 60 or 70 mph, need to be registered with the state and have a license plate.”

The issue is that whereas it sounds just like the Assemblywoman is making an attempt to manage non-street-legal high-speed electrical bikes, she’s by accident concentrating on street-legal electrical bicycles. Class 3 e-bikes in California legally can’t have throttles, and any e-bike that’s able to “60 or 70 mph” is by definition not a category 2 or 3 e-bike, which tops out at 20 or 28 mph. Thus, it seems a basic lack of expertise of the very bikes Bauer-Kahn is attempting to manage has triggered her to overlook the mark significantly.

And that’s the place the influence could possibly be devastating.

For a lot of riders, the attraction of a street-legal class 1, 2, or 3 e-bike is its simplicity. You purchase it, you journey it. There’s no DMV appointment, no paperwork, no plate bolted to the again, and mainly no fuss. It’s a client product, not a car. Introducing registration necessities – even when charges are comparatively modest – provides friction. And friction issues loads when the primary promoting level of a mode of transportation is its ease of use.

We’ve already seen how confusion round e-bike guidelines can chill adoption. If somebody contemplating ditching their automobile now has to think about DMV registration, potential inspections, and the danger of tickets for non-compliance, some will merely resolve it’s not well worth the trouble. As an alternative of switching to an e-bike for brief journeys, they might keep of their automobile.

There’s additionally the query of enforcement. Critics argue that concentrating on compliant, authorized e-bikes gained’t tackle the core problem of unlawful or out-of-class machines which are already breaking present legal guidelines. In the meantime, lots of of 1000’s of law-abiding riders may discover themselves navigating a brand new layer of forms.

California has lengthy been a nationwide chief in e-bike coverage, serving to normalize electrical bicycles as professional, low-impact transportation. AB 1942 alerts a possible shift – one that might redefine whether or not e-bikes proceed to be handled like bicycles, or begin inching nearer to motor autos within the eyes of the regulation.

Be aware: The highest picture is an AI-generated instance of an electrical bicycle license plate