California Signs E-Bike Laws As NYC Weighs A Class 3 Ban

California signed a package that answers the "what counts as an e-bike" question with a labeling strategy instead of a license plate, New York's lawmakers went after sales and Class 3 bikes, Chicago started sorting out where Illinois' new law actually rides, and Orange County paid out gift cards for surrendered bikes. Add dozens of Accell bidders, a CEO swap at Specialized, a handful of notable releases plus a South Park episode which relays a caricature of where e-bikes stand, and September turned out to be a very eventful month.

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In September, everyone with a pen and podium has continued to draw the line between and e-bike and an e-moto amidst increasing calls for regulation, and approaches are varied across states. California reached for a label maker, New York is eyeing sales bans, Illinois is working out where its new licensing regime actually applies, and Orange County bought bikes back with gift cards. On a smaller scale, some cities are taking a simpler route: Jacksonville's council voted 19-0 for a 15 mph limit on sidewalks and shared paths, and Nampa, Idaho landed on the same number. Diverse responses aside, we shouldn't forget New Jersey's registration route; a cautionary tale detailed in our August news roundup, resulting in rapidly declining sales and possible closures for bike shops in New Jersey.

California Drew The Line With Labels

On September 30 — the last day he could act — Governor Newsom signed three e-bike bills, and the one that matters most is SB 1167 from Senator Catherine Blakespear. Its most interesting feature is what it leaves alone: the 750-watt, Class 1-through-3 e-bike definition stays as it was, and the law instead goes after how devices get sold, barring sellers from advertising or labeling anything outside that definition as an e-bike. Ads must carry buyer disclosures, e-bike labels must name the brand and the responsible manufacturer (importer or distributor), and police crash reports must record a bike's classification, according to the enrolled bill digest. Faster machines get redefined: the "motor-driven cycle" category now covers motors up to 3,750 watts, provided the vehicle is built for highway use, meets federal vehicle standards, and carries a VIN.

The bill is slated to take effect January 1, 2027, and it cleared the Assembly 77-0, which is a significant amount of agreement. The other two bills are narrower. AB 2346, from Assembly members Lori Wilson and Marc Berman, sets a 10 mph limit on sidewalks and requires speedometers on Class 2 e-bikes sold after January 1, 2029, and it lets local governments set path speed limits of 15 or 20 mph. AB 2595 lets San Mateo County jurisdictions ban children under 12 from Class 1 and 2 e-bikes in a pilot that runs through 2031, with a $25 fine that holds parents jointly-liable after a warning period.

What California didn't do is just as telling. Plates and registration, the centerpiece of AB 1942, died before reaching the governor, along with AB 1557 and AB 2284. For the backstory on why states keep fighting over this boundary, see our piece on how the e-bike class system is fraying.

New York Is Coming At This From Every Angle

Nothing has officially passed in New York yet, but September showed how many doors the state and city are trying at once. In Albany, Senators Kristen Gonzalez and Liz Krueger filed S.10700 on September 14, a bill that would bar retail and online sales of any "e-moto," defined as a device with a motor capable of exceeding 20 mph. It would let only New York ATV dealers sell electric off-highway motorcycles, require a warning notice, ban deceptive marketing and allow civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation, all effective immediately. Assembly member Diana Moreno was announced as the Assembly sponsor, though the legislature adjourned in June and is expected to stay quiet for much of the rest of the year.

At NYC City Hall, the Council spent September 30 on a package Speaker Julie Menin called a record 23 proposals before three committees, and everything was laid over, so nothing has been voted on. The headliner is Council Member Crystal Hudson's Int 244, which would ban selling and renting Class 3 e-bikes with civil penalties of up to $2,000, paired with a draft that would ban riding them, with warnings through April 1, 2029 before fines escalate. The timing is rich: Segway's 28 mph MUXI Pro cargo bike went on sale September 22, eight days before a hearing full of bills aimed at bikes exactly like it.

The rest of the package ranges from a DOT trade-in program under Council Member Shaun Abreu's Int 985, with a goal of at least 10,000 trade-ins, to Int 986, which would limit police dynamometer testing to cases with probable cause. Commissioner Tisch skipped the hearing and a deputy testified in her place. Missing from the agenda were registration and Priscilla's Law, and Speaker Menin had already backed off city licensing in August.

August's cease-and-desist letters to 42 online retailers have been quieter. Streetsblog counted about 19 of the 42 had stopped shipping by the end of August, and by mid-September it reported that dozens still ship illegal devices into the city and the state attorney general had received just one complaint in two months. No lawsuits or fines yet.

Illinois Signed Its Law, And Now Chicago Has To Figure Out Where It Rides

After the August 26 signing we covered last month, the fight in Illinois moved to pathways. SB 3484, which takes effect January 1, 2027, puts licensing, title, registration and insurance on "motor driven cycles," meaning electric motors above 750 watts or e-bikes that fall outside the three classes, while also setting minimum ages of 15 for Class 1 and 2 and 16 for Class 3.

The Chicago Park District then held town halls on September 29 and 30, with a virtual session set for October 6, to shape rules for its own paths and trails. At the first, attendees called 28 mph too fast for shared paths, doubted enforcement, and asked why e-scooters are barred on the Lakefront Trail and the 606 but allowed elsewhere, and the district plans to bring amendments to its board in November, with possible approval in January. This all goes to show that a statewide law can categorize the bikes, but it does not settle the "where" rulebook.

Orange County Tried A Buyback Instead

The buyback we previewed in August happened September 13, when District Attorney Todd Spitzer's office took over Angel Stadium and offered gift cards from $200 for pocket bikes and homemade mini-bikes up to $1,000 for an e-motorcycle, with Class 3 e-bikes worth $600. The DA's own write-up counts roughly 1,000 vehicles, and the gift-card money ran out about two hours in. It makes a neat contrast with New York: one city fines the sellers, the other pays the owners, and the payout climbs with how fast the machine goes.

New Releases Worth Knowing About

Segway's MUXI Pro hit the market at $1,999.99. After a September 15 announcement, the cargo bike went on sale September 22 with a 750-watt motor making 80 Nm of torque, a claimed range of up to 73 miles, nine-speed automatic shifting and a 28 mph Class 3 top speed, though Segway says certain features require a subscription after the first year. Jimmy and Andrew's Freshly Charged review found that Segway fixed the original MUXI's biggest complaints.

Trek unveiled the Domane+ SL. The carbon road e-bike debuted September 10 with a TQ HPR40 motor (40 Nm, 200 watts) and a weight of roughly 24.5 pounds, and it starts at $6,499.99 in the US, climbing to $11,999.99. Trek's Inbound+ arrived the same day in Europe and the UK with Bosch's first hub motor, which Bosch launched in June, and EBR says it hasn't been announced for the US.

Gazelle added Class 1 versions of its Ultimate line. The September 24 release covers the T10 at $3,499, the C5 at $3,999 and the C380 at $4,499, all with a 540 Wh battery that can be upgraded to 800 Wh, sold through dealers in the US and Canada. They finish a line that began with the 28 mph Class 3 Ultimates in June.

Two electric dirt bikes showed up as well. Rerode unveiled the RX on September 16 with preorders open, a $6,200 price, a 35 kW motor and a claimed 78 mph top speed. Bonnell announced the 805 RX on September 1 at $8,250 with 56 horsepower, available immediately in the US.

Industry News

We've been following Accell's bankruptcy, which began when a Dutch court declared the group bankrupt in August, and has drawn a crowd. Bike Europe reports that sixty parties have expressed interest, including Quanta Capital and DuTech Holdings, which is in serious talks with the trustees, and that bids cover individual brands as well as groups of them. With Lapierre, Batavus, Koga, Babboe and Raleigh all in the portfolio, a break-up may be more likely than a single buyer.

Over at Specialized, Mike Sinyard is resuming the CEO role on November 1 as Armin Landgraf steps down, and the company gave no reason for the change.

ALSO's TM-B is finally hitting the road, though mostly on a demo tour. The company said its Launch Edition bikes ship in waves through early November, with regular reservation holders following from early November through year-end. By mid-September, several early reservation holders were still reporting no individual delivery dates, and head of product Saul Leiken apologized on Reddit for the lack of communication. He blamed shortages of circuit-board materials and certain chips, which he tied to demand from the AI boom, which forced ALSO to source and re-qualify replacements, along with certification questions for a battery whose high capacity and 240-watt USB-C charging existing standards don't fully cover. He also said the company has been deliberately careful ramping up its DreamRide drive system.

E-Bike Culture Commentary on South Park

South Park spent its season 29 premiere on e-bikes. "South American Biker Gangs" aired September 16, and it has Cartman talking his mother into a roughly $2,000 Class 3 e-bike, only for cheap imports bought by Stan, Kyle and Kenny to outrun it, sending him hunting for a speed-unlock dongle. Randy, meanwhile, organizes spandex-clad adult cyclists into a gang that vandalizes e-bike shops, and the episode ends with Kenny's e-bike exploding and the town passing an ordinance in his name, per the episode summary. Electrek liked how it handled out-of-class bikes and young riders but docked it for exaggerating battery fires. After a month of lawmakers arguing about where to draw the line, it's a fitting send-off: a cartoon town that bans a whole category after one tragedy.