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Amazon Is Pulling High-Speed E-Motos from California E-Bike Marketplace

May 13, 2026/by Andrew Wright

Amazon says it will no longer sell e-bikes in California that exceed state speed limits and fall outside the existing three-class system, after KCRA 3 Investigates notified the retailer that products on the company’s marketplace advertised speeds greater than 40 miles per hour, counter to California law. After KCRA contacted Amazon about those listings, the company said it removed the examples provided and is investigating similar products for compliance.

That is the big stride we are seeing: a major marketplace was selling high-speed electric motorbikes as “e-bikes,” and when a newsroom checked the listings against California law, Amazon moved. Kudos to KCRA for following up on something CalBike Executive Director Kendra Ramsey shared with them in a May 3 California Politics 360 interview: that consumers can visit the marketplace, search for what they believe is an electric bicycle for their teenager, and end up with a highway-speed device. This kind of reporting turns a public concern into concrete accountability and better outcomes for e-bike consumers.

For people who care about e-bikes, this is good news — not because anyone should be celebrating restrictions for their own sake, but because a more honest marketplace is better for everyone: parents, riders, retailers, cities, and the future of bicycling in California. When the products being sold as e-bikes actually match the legal definition of e-bikes, consumers can make clearer choices, communities can set fairer rules, and legal e-bikes are less likely to be blamed for harm caused by vehicles that belong in another category. Amazon is in early stages of voluntarily reviewing listings, and given that Amazon.com currently shows more than 20,000 listings for “e-bikes” and the search term “e-bikes for adults 40 mph” returns more than 1,000 listings — it may take some time before all e-bikes sold through Amazon meet the standard.

The Responsible Middle

There is a facile critique of the bicycle movement that says advocates want a transportation free-for-all: fewer rules, less accountability, more chaos. This work points in the opposite direction. CalBike is trying to hold the responsible middle, where Californians can access the extraordinary freedom legal e-bikes offer, and our roads, schools, bikeways, and neighborhoods can be safer at the same time. We are uniquely positioned to help build that middle ground with work like the California Independent Electric Mobility Council because we work across the whole ecosystem: with local partners like the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, with legislators shaping statewide rules, with responsible e-bike retailers who need a trustworthy marketplace, and with the advocates and families who know what these bikes make possible. That is part of what a bicycle coalition can do now: draw clearer lines, bring unlikely partners together, protect access to legal e-bikes, and insist that if a vehicle is too fast or too powerful to be an e-bike, it should not be sold as one.

A Coherent Marketplace

KCRA’s reporting showed why this clarity is needed. The issue was not hidden in some obscure corner of the internet. These products were appearing on one of the largest retail platforms in the world, where consumers often assume that basic compliance questions have already been handled. When a shopper types “e-bike” into Amazon, they should not need to cross-check motor wattage, speed claims, vehicle code definitions, age restrictions, and licensing rules to figure out whether the product is actually legal for its advertised use.

That is the standard California should be moving toward: a marketplace where the burden of understanding the law does not fall entirely on parents, teenagers, teachers, police officers, or emergency-room doctors after something has already gone wrong.

New York City has already recognized this problem in another part of the e-mobility market. Local Law 39, first enacted in 2023 and later strengthened, requires powered bicycles, powered mobility devices, and their batteries to meet accredited safety standards before they can be sold, leased, or rented in the city. The law also reaches the online marketplace, and is apparent when you review e-bike listings on Amazon, even in California. All e-bike product listings must display the certification, logo, wordmark, or name of the accredited testing laboratory. That is the right basic principle: a shopper should be able to see, on the listing itself, whether the product meets the rules that apply to it.

The future of e-bikes depends on protecting the thing that made them work in the first place: the public’s understanding that these are bicycles, built for everyday movement, not unregulated motorcycles hiding behind a friendlier name.

California should not have to wait for investigative reporters to catch illegal products one listing at a time. SB 1167 is how California can protect that promise, with clearer labels, stronger accountability, and a marketplace honest enough for the transportation future we need.

CalBike’s 2026 Primary Election Endorsements

May 5, 2026/by Andrew Wright

At CalBike, we work not just to improve what policymakers decide about transportation but to improve who those policymakers are. In 2026, California needs leaders who are up to the challenge of the current moment to face the climate crisis and prioritize active transportation.

Because the California Bicycle Coalition is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, we can engage with electoral politics. The critical victories we’ve achieved to make our streets safer for people biking and walking wouldn’t have been possible without strong champions in the California Assembly and Senate.

This year, and every year, it is vital to elect officials who share our goals of creating equitable, inclusive, and prosperous communities where bicycling helps to enable all Californians to lead healthy and joyful lives.

AD 65 Fatima Iqbal-Zubair

Campaign Website

Iqbal-Zubair supports reshaping our transportation budget so it matches our climate, safety, and mobility goals. “Right now,” she said, “we are spending too much on projects that lock us into more driving, more pollution, and more displacement. I would prioritize faster, more reliable public transit; safer streets for walking and biking; better connections to schools, jobs, and essential services; and infrastructure investments that actually improve daily life for working families.”

We are impressed by Iqbal-Zubair’s track record in South LA and her support for prioritizing low-income communities of color in transportation decisions. We’re excited to see her vision and passion at the state level.

AD 66 Sara Deen

Campaign Website

Deen advocates for “a significant increase to expand safe and accessible walking and biking options,” while understanding that “expanding highway capacity often leads to more driving, more emissions, and only temporary congestion relief.” A current school board member, Deen supports devoting more of California’s transportation budget to active transportation. Her answers to CalBike’s questionnaire demonstrated her support for prioritizing low-income communities of color for transportation funding.

AD 68 Jessie Lopez

Campaign Website

Jessie Lopez thinks California should look at our transportation budget and how it prioritizes projects that increase vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions. Lopez said her priority “would be to rebalance funding toward projects that reduce car dependence and expand real transportation choices.”

Lopez’s answers to CalBike’s candidate questionnaire showed a strong desire to work with active transportation and environmental advocates to shape better state policy. She understands the need to prioritize low-income communities for infrastructure funding.

SD 40 Mara Elliott

Campaign Website

Mara Elliot understands the need to shift from being a car-dependent state. She believes we must prioritize investments in our public transportation system and infrastructure that increase transit ridership, advance our climate goals, and improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and those using other modes of transportation.

Elliot would prioritize shifting our state transportation budget to make substantial investments in disadvantaged communities across California. She would work to empower the communities most impacted by pollution to choose their own goals, strategies, and projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution.

CalBike Endorsement Process

CalBike sends questionnaires to candidates for Assembly and Senate and evaluates the responses. The candidates we endorse support safe streets and funding for active transportation infrastructure. They don’t support freeway expansion and projects that will add to vehicle miles traveled, and they favor using money for sustainable transportation instead.

Lobby Day Put Safe Streets on the Agenda

May 5, 2026/by Andrew Wright

Last month, CalBike Lobby Day brought advocates, community leaders, bike coalition staff, riders, parents, and local organizers into meetings with legislators and staff from across the state. Together, participants made the case for CalBike’s 2026 legislative priorities, including stronger protections against illegal e-motos being marketed as e-bikes, reforms to the Active Transportation Program, and increased funding for connected bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

For many participants, the day was a chance to see advocacy up close for the first time. “Lobby Day was an opportunity to learn how to advocate with legislative staff and also to work together with fellow advocates from my community,” said Mick Klasson, a community member who joined meetings with fellow local advocates.

Sophie Nenner of Bicycle Transit Systems said the day helped make the legislative process feel more accessible: “CalBike Lobby Day made me feel prepared and impactful, with valuable prep time to learn directly from experts about bills I don’t always have time to fully dissect.”

Across the Capitol, advocates found legislative offices eager to better understand the difference between legal e-bikes and illegal e-motos. That distinction was central to many conversations as supporters explained that California should enforce the laws already on the books and stop companies from selling high-powered motor vehicles as if they were bicycles, without punishing the families, workers, students, and older adults who rely on legal e-bikes.

In several meetings, advocates also pushed for stronger state investment in the Active Transportation Program. California’s bike and pedestrian projects are routinely oversubscribed, leaving high-quality safety projects unfunded even when local communities are ready to build them. Lobby Day participants made the case that the state should fund complete networks, not disconnected fragments.

Some meetings were encouraging. Some were challenging. That is exactly why showing up matters. Lawmakers and staff heard directly from people who bike in their districts, organize in their communities, run local coalitions, work in bike shops, and understand how state policy shows up on the ground.

One of the most substantive conversations came in a meeting with Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens. Advocates described a fast-moving discussion about e-bike legislation, active transportation funding, and the need to get the details right. It was not an easy meeting, but it was a useful one: the kind of exchange that helps clarify concerns, surface next steps, and keep the door open for better policy.

CalBike Lobby Day was a reminder that advocacy is not abstract. It happens in rooms, in conversations, and in the steady work of our whole coalition, helping decision-makers understand what is at stake. Safer streets are not inevitable, even when the need is clear. They happen because people organize, prepare, show up, and keep showing up.

Thank you to every advocate who joined us in Sacramento, every partner who helped prepare participants, and every legislator and staff member who took the time to listen.

Don’t Punish E-Bikes for the E-Moto Problem

April 16, 2026/by Andrew Wright

California lawmakers are right to be concerned about the spread of high-powered electric devices marketed as e-bikes. There is some truth behind the now-familiar image of 12-year-olds doing wheelies through suburban streets on machines far more powerful than a legal electric bicycle. But too many of this year’s bills respond to that concern by going after the wrong target, and they will not deliver the results anyone actually wants. Instead of drawing a clear line between legal e-bikes and illegal e-motos, these proposals blur it further. They add burdens to the bikes people actually rely on, while failing to directly address the devices creating the confusion in the first place.

California needs to protect the promise of e-bikes, not let the e-moto backlash distort the law. In this century, e-bikes have been one of the most important transportation success stories in the state. They help people replace car trips. They expand access to biking for older adults, working families, and people who might not otherwise ride in hilly terrain. They make biking more practical for longer distances, hills, errands, school dropoff, and everyday life. In a state that talks constantly about climate, congestion, affordability, and mobility, e-bikes should be an obvious part of the solution, and under settled California law, they already are.

A legal e-bike is clearly defined. It has a motor of no more than 750 watts and falls into one of three classes with established speed limits. That framework was not accidental. It was designed to allow electric bicycles to expand mobility without collapsing the distinction between a bicycle and a motorcycle.

Increasingly, higher-powered electric devices, often called e-motos, are being advertised and sold as if they are ordinary e-bikes, or at least in ways that do not make the distinction clear to consumers. Many exceed the 750-watt cap. Some are capable of motorcycle-level speeds and acceleration. Yet they are marketed to families and young riders using the same language and labels that apply to Class 1, 2, and 3 electric bicycles.

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The Bills Moving in the Wrong Direction

Some lawmakers are responding to real public concern in exactly the wrong way. Instead of cracking down on illegal high-powered devices being sold as e-bikes, these bills would burden the legal e-bikes people actually use for transportation.

CalBike is opposing AB 1557 and AB 1942, take action with us.

AB 1557 would rewrite the rules for legal e-bikes in ways that create confusion, make many bikes less practical, and impose new burdens on riders, retailers, and manufacturers without squarely addressing the illegal devices driving concern in the first place.

AB 1942 would require registration and license plates for certain classes of e-bikes, pulling bicycles into a motor vehicle framework that does not fit and will do little to solve the actual problem.

California should be drawing a clearer line, not a blurrier one. That is why CalBike is co-sponsoring approaches like SB 1167, which focus on truthful labeling, clear definitions, and stopping illegal e-motos from being marketed as e-bikes. And worse, these bills risk reinforcing a false story: that e-bikes themselves are the problem.

E-bikes are not the source of California’s traffic violence crisis. They are one of the exits from it. They give people a way to make short trips without climbing into a two-ton vehicle. They offer a cleaner, cheaper, more humane form of transportation. They are not a fringe gadget. They are one of the most practical tools we have to reduce car dependence. Once lawmakers start treating e-bikes as a nuisance to be contained rather than a public good to be protected, the whole conversation shifts in the wrong direction.

A welcome step; now let’s see enforcement

April 15, 2026/by Andrew Wright

We are thrilled to see California Attorney General Rob Bonta alert consumers to the difference between legal e-bikes and faster e-motos. Joined in the alert by the district attorneys of Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties, the consumer notice helps draw a clearer line between legal e-bikes and the illegal high-speed electric motorcycles that are too often marketed and sold as if they are the same thing.

That is exactly why CalBike launched our Public Safety First petition in conjunction with the Marin County Bicycle Coalition.

We are calling on district attorneys and Attorney General Bonta to not just talk about but to enforce consumer protection laws against companies selling illegal e-motos as legal e-bikes.

The attorney general’s recent alert matters because it shows that state and local law enforcement leaders are paying attention to the real problem. A warning alone will not be enough. If California is serious about public safety and protecting access to safe, legal e-bikes, this needs to lead to more action.

Now, California officials should go further by investigating and taking action against the manufacturers and retailers flooding the market with illegal vehicles that create real danger and, in the process, fuel a broader backlash against e-bikes. If you have not already, sign the petition and urge district attorneys and the attorney general to act.

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California should protect real e-bikes and crack down on illegal high-powered vehicles being marketed as if they are the same thing. Use the form below to speak up.

It only takes a minute. Once you sign, you will help show lawmakers that safe access to legal e-bikes matters.

Tag Archive for: latest

Amazon Is Pulling High-Speed E-Motos from California E-Bike Marketplace

The Responsible Middle

A Coherent Marketplace

CalBike’s 2026 Primary Election Endorsements

AD 65 Fatima Iqbal-Zubair

AD 66 Sara Deen

AD 68 Jessie Lopez

SD 40 Mara Elliott

CalBike Endorsement Process

Lobby Day Put Safe Streets on the Agenda

Don’t Punish E-Bikes for the E-Moto Problem

Add your name

The Bills Moving in the Wrong Direction

A welcome step; now let’s see enforcement

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