New "EBike" Regulations in California

[Mikerb]

Looks like California has tightened regulations on "EBikes" in Senate Bill 1271 passed in September.
It bans throttles on class 1 and class 3 bikes but allows throttles on Class 2 bikes...but only up to 20mph.
Maximum motor power for all classes 750w.
New battery certification regulations as well.

 

[jbrown15]

Looks like California has tightened regulations on "EBikes" in Senate Bill 1271 passed in September.
It bans throttles on class 1 and class 3 bikes but allows throttles on Class 2 bikes...but only up to 20mph.
Maximum motor power for all classes 750w.
New battery certification regulations as well.

Weird, I always thought only class 2 ebikes had throttles anyways. I work at a shop and don't recall every seeing any Class 1 or 3 ebikes that actually have a throttle.

 

[mustclime]

Guess the dji’s are illegal…… 800 watts

 

[DirkWisely]

I thought a class 1 didn't have a throttle by definition?

 

[Astro66]

Guess the dji’s are illegal…… 800 watts

Rated power is 250 watts. Peak Power is 850 watts, 1000 watts in Boost Mode. Speed limited to 20mph with no throttle, so a class 1.

 

[Mikerb]

Rated power is 250 watts. Peak Power is 850 watts, 1000 watts in Boost Mode. Speed limited to 20mph with no throttle, so a class 1.
View attachment 153254

Tha article I saw referred to max power .....what correctly should be called peak power so I agree it is not very clear. Maybe the other regulations are aimed at outlawing modifications to class 1 and class 3 bikes.......or those bikes not made by the leading brands like Trek etc?

 

[Mikerb]

Maybe someone in California can find a copy of the actual Senate Bill 1271 to check the wording.

 

[Huxie]

Maybe someone in California can find a copy of the actual Senate Bill 1271 to check the wording.

Bill Text - SB-1271 Electric bicycles, powered mobility devices, and storage batteries.

 

[Polar]

New battery certification regulations at least sounds positive

 

[Mikerb]

Bill Text - SB-1271 Electric bicycles, powered mobility devices, and storage batteries.

Thanks......my reading of that suggests the 750w motor power limit refers to the maximum output of the motor. That is more explicit in the section that defines what is not a pedal cycle. Bosch gen 4 is 600w peak and I think Shimano ep801 the same........don't know what it means for Yamaha but seems DJI/ Amflow would not comply.
Lots of positive steps regarding battery safety etc which cause no issues for the main brands.

 

[Weeksy]

Who'd ever know though. If you got pullover over by Police they're not going to know if it's 600w max, 800w max or 1000w max... and there's bugger all way they could test it either ?

 

[Mikerb]

Who'd ever know though. If you got pullover over by Police they're not going to know if it's 600w max, 800w max or 1000w max... and there's bugger all way they could test it either ?

I assume a brand would have to prove that to enable certification. Max power is after all mostly defined by software and all the leading brands quote max power of their motor for marketing purposes.
Seems more sensible than the EU specification of an EPAC which specifies motor nominal power (250w)

 

[Weeksy]

I assume a brand would have to prove that to enable certification. Max power is after all mostly defined by software and all the leading brands quote max power of their motor for marketing purposes.

But how would that affect a rider on the trails ? POssibly it may affect someones ability to stock/sell them in the county/area, but a copper isn't going to have a defined list of approved bikes etc.

 

[Huxie]

But how would that affect a rider on the trails ? POssibly it may affect someones ability to stock/sell them in the county/area, but a copper isn't going to have a defined list of approved bikes etc.

From the bill:
“On and after January 1, 2017, manufacturers and distributors of electric bicycles shall apply a label that is permanently affixed, in a prominent location, to each electric bicycle. The label shall contain the classification number, top assisted speed, and motor wattage of the electric bicycle, and shall be printed in Arial font in at least 9-point type.”

So perhaps bikes in Cali should already have to display that info?

 

[Tgianco]

Guess the dji’s are illegal…… 800 watts

Nah, the law takes into account the 250 watt motor. DJI will be fine. There are a ton of 750w hub motors that have a top output of like 1100-1200 watts that will still be legal, too.
This law was aimed at the SurRon's of the world & the others that are pseudo/ wanna-be e-motorcycles.

 

[Tgianco]

From the bill:
“On and after January 1, 2017, manufacturers and distributors of electric bicycles shall apply a label that is permanently affixed, in a prominent location, to each electric bicycle. The label shall contain the classification number, top assisted speed, and motor wattage of the electric bicycle, and shall be printed in Arial font in at least 9-point type.”

So perhaps bikes in Cali should already have to display that info?

Yes, they do, although you can get around that. However, most bike manfucterers/ makers (at least the reputable and even semi-reputable ones) already do. If you buy one off Amazon or TEMU, yeah, good luck to ya.

 

[Tgianco]

But how would that affect a rider on the trails ? POssibly it may affect someones ability to stock/sell them in the county/area, but a copper isn't going to have a defined list of approved bikes etc.

It won't, unless you're one of those people taking their SurRons (and SurRon/ Super 73 knockoffs) onto a trail. They'll be on the lookout for those. Otherwise, if you have a bike that looks like a bike and isn't souped up to burst to 45mph (what's up, eCells?), you're fine.

 

[John_likes_bikes]

What he said.

I think most of this is aimed at regulating a generally unregulated surrion market. That's good for everyone in the US though people love to complain about Commifornia... they should be thankful.

This isn't going to help DJI continue to exist in the US market:

DJI Stops Automatically Blocking Drone Flights Over Airports and Military Bases

"The geofencing system was created as a voluntary built-in safety feature," the company writes.

gizmodo.com

 

[folmonty]

With all the CRAP Cali has to deal with chances of these regs being enforced are next to zero. Just returned from spending a couple months riding in So CA on an analog bike. Lots of various rides both on and off road. So far as regulations go, where I was in the OC and LA counties - forget it! It's off the hook, as I saw anything from full on motorcycles, mini-bikes (gangs of the them), lots throttled eBikes and even hoverboards that blew by me at what must have been 30 mph. Add to it the homeless equasion and doubt they'll be worried about a bicycle with a throttle. Suppose it all comes down to where you live and ride. As for off road, city, state and county parks seems to have more enforecment than anywhere else I've seen. Especially in Nor CA. A state park I frequent has plenty of "bike rules" but few rangers to enforce them. Especially on week days. The state is broke but they just keep legislating more BS. It's commical and sad at the same time.

 

[ian408]

But how would that affect a rider on the trails ? POssibly it may affect someones ability to stock/sell them in the county/area, but a copper isn't going to have a defined list of approved bikes etc.

They will eventually have a list of things like Sauron that are illegal. But in reality, unless the bike looks like a motorcycle, doesn't have pedals, or you're riding like an idiot, this is likely another one of those laws that will be meaningless here.

Except by various park rangers (many of whom are sworn peace officers), I doubt this will see much enforcement. It will definitely affect small businesses who can no longer sell the illegal models.

 

[Onetime]

Who'd ever know though. If you got pullover over by Police they're not going to know if it's 600w max, 800w max or 1000w max... and there's bugger all way they could test it either ?

Yeah, it’s not really enforceable, (except the surons that are ridden on the streets). So none of it really matters.

 

[mustclime]

With all the CRAP Cali has to deal with chances of these regs being enforced are next to zero. Just returned from spending a couple months riding in So CA on an analog bike. Lots of various rides both on and off road. So far as regulations go, where I was in the OC and LA counties - forget it! It's off the hook, as I saw anything from full on motorcycles, mini-bikes (gangs of the them), lots throttled eBikes and even hoverboards that blew by me at what must have been 30 mph. Add to it the homeless equasion and doubt they'll be worried about a bicycle with a throttle. Suppose it all comes down to where you live and ride. As for off road, city, state and county parks seems to have more enforecment than anywhere else I've seen. Especially in Nor CA. A state park I frequent has plenty of "bike rules" but few rangers to enforce them. Especially on week days. The state is broke but they just keep legislating more BS. It's commical and sad at the same time.

1) California is 1/5th of the US economy
2) ever notice in a lot of cases the rest of the country tends to follow California laws like this?
3) the real problem is guys that want to turn their e mountain bikes into dirt bikes. I want more access to trails not less. A bunch of morons roosting up a trail at 30 mph will be the end of the access for e Mtb’s.

 

[gapago]

Looks like California has tightened regulations on "EBikes" in Senate Bill 1271 passed in September.
It bans throttles on class 1 and class 3 bikes but allows throttles on Class 2 bikes...but only up to 20mph.
Maximum motor power for all classes 750w.
New battery certification regulations as well.

Has anyone had witnessed or heard of another getting a ticket for having a wrong class bike on the street or trails? It seems rare unless someone is really hauling.

 

[Onetime]

I think this new legislation is really meant to target all of the little hoodlums wreaking havoc on Surons up and down the coast of So Cal. It won’t really affect regular ebike users. And by hoodlums, I mean packs of teens on their surons that are robbing and assaulting mostly elderly people along beach areas. This happened pretty frequently last year in the So Bay Area of So Cal.

 

[ian408]

I think this new legislation is really meant to target all of the little hoodlums wreaking havoc on Surons up and down the coast of So Cal. It won’t really affect regular ebike users. And by hoodlums, I mean packs of teens on their surons that are robbing and assaulting mostly elderly people along beach areas. This happened pretty frequently last year in the So Bay Area of So Cal.

This is actually a good way to look at it. It's a tool law enforcement can use.

Here, we have a handful of scooter delivery people who ride on the sidewalks when it's convenient, maybe on the roads, if there's traffic, maybe on a bicycle trail--these are the kinda people who should feel the wrath.

 

[Bad-Latitude]

I’m a deputy sheriff in SoCal. The new laws and regs are intended to target Surrons and other similar bikes. Pedal assist e-bikes aren’t the intended target. I have not seen nor heard of any pedal assisted e-bikes being targeted by any law enforcement officers. The groups of kids on Surrons that do wheelies on sidewalks of shopping centers where people are trying to walk is what caused this issue to arise. Personally I think the Surrons are really cool bikes and I would love to have one but for now my pedal assist ebike will work for me just fine. Also there are info packets that are frequently distributed to my department that outline the different classes and brands of e-bikes so I am sure that most departments are pretty familiar with the types of bikes that are illegal.

This is one of the California laws that I don’t necessarily agree with and for the most part enforcement of these laws largely rests with each individual officers discretion.

 

[RustyIron]

This is one of the California laws that I don’t necessarily agree with and for the most part enforcement of these laws largely rests with each individual officers discretion.

This was a topic of discussion last night over tamales and tequila. I was chatting with a gentleman who was present for a little incident you might have heard about in Brea. A few days ago two kids on an eMoto were screaming down the sidewalk, clipped a tree branch, and launched headfirst into a brick wall. One kid will probably be a vegetable for the rest of his life.

My contention is that the parents are complicit in this foreseeable tragedy. If they can't control their kids' use of a $5000 toy, then they've completely failed as parents.

But the po-po is also partially to blame. I'm a firm believer in the Broken Window Theory. When you don't punish the kids for minor violations, they continue to increase the level of their misbehavior until the clean-up crew ends up mopping their brains off the sidewalk. My friend explained that many officers view the citation of these kids as futile. Many will run, and the ensuing chase will endanger everyone involved in addition to other citizens. And even if apprehended, there is no meaningful punishment. I see his point, but have no solution.

 

[irie]

Make parents legally and financially responsible for their children's misdemeanours.

 

[Bad-Latitude]

This was a topic of discussion last night over tamales and tequila. I was chatting with a gentleman who was present for a little incident you might have heard about in Brea. A few days ago two kids on an eMoto were screaming down the sidewalk, clipped a tree branch, and launched headfirst into a brick wall. One kid will probably be a vegetable for the rest of his life.

My contention is that the parents are complicit in this foreseeable tragedy. If they can't control their kids' use of a $5000 toy, then they've completely failed as parents.

But the po-po is also partially to blame. I'm a firm believer in the Broken Window Theory. When you don't punish the kids for minor violations, they continue to increase the level of their misbehavior until the clean-up crew ends up mopping their brains off the sidewalk. My friend explained that many officers view the citation of these kids as futile. Many will run, and the ensuing chase will endanger everyone involved in addition to other citizens. And even if apprehended, there is no meaningful punishment. I see his point, but have no solution.

One of the things you brought up is a very valid point. Most of the kids run due to the increased enforcement so then a “pursuit” occurs. Many of the kids (not all but many) are not very skilled at riding a bike (anctukky an motorcycle) and end up crashing. A similar incident occurred in my county and a kid was seriously injured. The kids parents then sued the county stating that if the police were not pursuing their kid then he would not have fallen. It’s a slippery slope, and one that I do not believe has a clear cut answer.

 

[John_likes_bikes]

Make parents legally and financially responsible for their children's misdemeanours.

As a parent this is what I see...Those who were once kids raised by helicopter parents are now raising their own kids and have no idea or care how to do it "properly." Instead they're relying on others, especially teachers and in some cases the police, to do it. I love seeing parents being charged for crimes they could have prevented their kids from committing.