2 sec ask of Claude. Hey, AI can be wrong. So can humans though, I guess
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Regulatory compliance / staying street-legal The primary driver was keeping e-bikes classified as
bicycles rather than mopeds or motorcycles. In the US, the 750W limit is baked into federal law (the Consumer Product Safety Act's definition of a "low-speed electric bicycle"), and in the EU it's 250W continuous. Exceeding those thresholds means the vehicle legally requires registration, insurance, a license plate, and a driver's license — killing the core appeal of an e-bike.
Liability and safety Manufacturers didn't want to be seen producing vehicles that were
de facto motorcycles but sold without the safety infrastructure (helmets mandated, licensing, road rules) that comes with them. A heavier, faster machine on bike paths creates serious liability exposure if someone gets hurt.
Trail and path access A big part of the e-bike market is off-road / MTB use. Land managers (national parks, trail networks) were already nervous about e-bikes on non-motorized trails. Manufacturers knew that if their bikes were obviously over-powered, they'd lose trail access entirely — so staying within the agreed power band was self-preservation.
Market legitimacy The industry was working hard in the mid-2010s to get e-bikes accepted by cycling culture, retailers, and regulators. A race to higher wattage would have muddied the "it's still a bicycle" narrative they were carefully cultivating.
In practice, the 750W figure is somewhat arbitrary anyway —
torque and
peak power matter more than nominal wattage ratings, and many motors technically exceed 750W in short bursts. The agreement was as much about the
label and staying under regulatory radar as it was about hard engineering limits.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I read that as "they were being sensible". It might pan out they were being "overly cautious". We have yet to see.
I take the angle of "Since the battery capacity can't really support it anyway, why risk the regulatory scrutiny and war over trail access?".