NEW YORK—Are electric bikes legal in New York City?
Depends who you ask.
During educational presentations, the city’s Department of Transportation tells business owners that electric bicycles are illegal, because they cannot be registered with the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
But the complexity behind electric bike laws came up during a Sept. 6 City Council hearing, when Councilwoman Jessica Lappin said that electric bicycles are legal—provided they go under 15 miles per hour—according to the New York City Administrative Code.
Yet federal law states that “low-speed electric bicycles” are consumer products, according to a 2002 amendment by Congress to the Consumer Product Safety Act. Any two- or three-wheeled vehicles, with an electric motor of less than 750 watts, that have a maximum speed of less than 20 miles per hour when powered solely by the motor, do not need to be licensed by any Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
