Signed into law September 2026

People buying an e-bike deserve to know what they’re getting. SB 1167, authored by Senator Catherine Blakespear and co-sponsored by CalBike, PeopleForBikes, Streets Are For Everyone, and Streets For All, strengthens consumer protections by clarifying what can legally be sold and marketed as an electric bicycle in California.

The new law protects legitimate Class 1, 2, and 3 e-bikes while requiring high-powered electric devices outside those definitions to be accurately identified and disclosed to consumers.

Why This Law Matters

E-bikes are helping Californians get to work, take children to school, and replace everyday car trips. But misleading marketing has made it harder for consumers to distinguish legal e-bikes from devices that exceed California’s power and speed limits. Families may purchase a device believing it can be used wherever bicycles are allowed, only to discover that it falls outside California’s e-bike rules.

“Parents should be able to shop for an e-bike without having to investigate whether the product lives up to its description,” said Kendra Ramsey, Executive Director of CalBike. “When high-powered devices are sold as e-bikes, families can end up buying something very different from what they intended. SB 1167 puts responsibility on sellers to represent their products honestly and helps protect public confidence in legal e-bikes.”

What SB 1167 Does

• Protects California’s legal e-bike definitions, including established power and speed limits for Class 1, 2, and 3 e-bikes.
• Strengthens truthful marketing requirements so devices outside the legal definition cannot be advertised, labeled, or sold as e-bikes.
• Improves labeling and disclosures so consumers have clearer information about what they are purchasing.
• Strengthens battery and electrical safety requirements for high-powered electric devices.
• Improves crash and injury data by requiring incident reports to record available classification and labeling information.

CalBike thanks Senator Blakespear, our fellow co-sponsors, and the supporters who helped advance this legislation, and Governor Newsom for signing these consumer protections into law. Together, we are protecting access to e-bikes as a clean, practical transportation option for Californians of all ages and abilities.