California E-Bike Law Changes: 2026 Tracker

Q: Do e-bikes need a light during the day in California now?

A rear one, yes. § 21201(f), added by AB 544 effective January 1, 2026, provides that "an electric bicycle shall comply with paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) during all hours" — paragraph (2) being the rear red reflector or solid or flashing red light with a built-in reflector, visible from 500 feet. The front white lamp remains a darkness-only requirement. This is the single most commonly violated new rule, because almost nobody knows about it.

Q: What did SB 1167 actually do?

Signed September 30, 2026 as Chapter 846, Statutes of 2026, effective January 1, 2027. It is the most comprehensive e-bike bill in a decade. It expands the list of devices that cannot be marketed as e-bikes, require brand and manufacturer information on class labels, redefine "motor-driven cycle" (§ 405) and "moped" (§ 406) — making operable pedals optional for a moped — and add § 21065 prohibiting operation of an unauthorised two- or three-wheeled electric device capable of exceeding 20 mph. It passed the Senate 40–0 and the Assembly 77–0 with CalBike co-sponsorship and was presented to the Governor on September 4, 2026. Signature looks likely on those margins, but it is not certain until it happens. Driver-licensing provisions would not take effect until January 1, 2029.

Q: Did California pass a law requiring e-bike registration or license plates?

No. Two 2026 bills tried and both died. AB 1942 (Bauer-Kahan) would have required DMV registration and state-issued license plates for Class 2 and Class 3 e-bikes; it passed Assembly Transportation and then failed. SB 956 (Choi) would have let Orange County local authorities require e-bike licensing and plates; it died too. Registration would need statutory authorization because AB 1909 amended § 39002 to prohibit local bicycle licensing outright.

Q: Is California going to lower the e-bike speed limit to 16 mph?

It was proposed and it failed. AB 1557 (Papan) would have lowered the Class 1 and Class 2 assist cutoff to 16 mph, capped peak power at 750 W and continuous power at 250 W, and changed Class 3 age and helmet rules, with a grandfather clause for pre-2027 bikes. It cleared Transportation and Judiciary but was held under submission in Assembly Appropriations on May 14, 2026, which kills a bill for the session. It could return in a future session.

Q: When do the Marin and San Diego e-bike pilot programs end?

Both sunset January 1, 2029. § 21214.5 (Marin, under-16 on Class 2 plus all-ages Class 2 helmets) and § 21214.7 (San Diego County, under-12 on Class 1 and 2) each become inoperative and are repealed on that date, with reports due to the Legislature by January 1, 2028. Unless the Legislature extends them or makes them permanent, every local ordinance adopted under that authority loses its statutory basis. The pending AB 2595 would create a San Mateo County pilot sunsetting January 1, 2031.

Last verified October 14, 2026·Edited by Stacy Yamaoka Anderson

Six changes took effect January 1, 2026. E-bikes must now carry a rear reflector or light at all hours, not just after dark (§ 21201(f)). Selling a speed-unlock device or app is prohibited (§ 24016(e)). Selling a Class 3 to anyone under 16 is prohibited (§ 21212.5). Police may impound out-of-class devices and under-16 Class 3 riders' bikes for at least 48 hours (§ 22651.08). Pedal-less electric dirt bikes are defined as off-highway electric motorcycles and barred from streets and paths (§ 436.1). And e-bike batteries must be certified to UL 2849 or EN 15194 to be sold or leased (Health & Saf. Code § 26301). Three more bills were signed on September 30, 2026 and take effect January 1, 2027 — SB 1167 (Ch. 846), AB 2346 (Ch. 842) and AB 2595 (Ch. 843). The headline: SB 1167 leaves the Class 1/2/3 definitions in § 312.5 intact — 750 watts, 20/20/28 mph and the operable-pedals requirement all survive — and does its work on the categories around e-bikes instead.

Two widely reported claims about SB 1167 are wrong

Streetsblog California and KQED both reported that SB 1167 does not change the e-bike definitions. It does — just not the ones people expected. The Class 1/2/3 tiers in § 312.5 survive untouched, which is what those outlets picked up. What changes is everything around them: §§ 405 and 406 are rewritten, the § 312.5 exclusion list expands, § 21065 is added, and the term "motorized bicycle" is replaced with "moped" throughout the Vehicle Code. That last one is a site-wide terminology change that affects how several other rules read, including the bike-path provision in § 21207.5.

Some section numbers here are flagged, not published

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov is unreachable from this project's research environment, so the chaptered text was read through LegiScan's mirror. That confirms the outcomes, chapter numbers and substance. It does not confirm every new section number. AB 2346's § 22352.1 is flagged: the introduced version amended § 22352 at 5 mph rather than adding a new section, and which survived into the chaptered text could not be confirmed. § 21214.9 is claimed by both AB 2346 and AB 2595 in different sources, so it is not published for either. The rules below are confirmed; those three citations are not.

In force now: effective January 1, 2026

The 2025 session produced the largest single-year package of e-bike legislation since the class system was created, and it is substantially under-reported.

Bill	Chapter	Code	What changed
AB 544 (Davies)	Ch. 36, Stats. 2025	`§ 21201(f)`, `§ 21212`	E-bikes must carry the rear red reflector or light during all hours. CHP's e-bike safety program can satisfy the helmet-citation course off-ramp.
AB 545 (Davies)	Ch. 37, Stats. 2025	`§ 24016(e)`	Prohibits selling any product, device or application that can modify an e-bike's speed capability out of class. Reaches unlock apps, not just hardware.
AB 965 (Dixon)	Ch. 65, Stats. 2025	`§ 21212.5`	Prohibits selling a Class 3 e-bike to a person under 16. Infraction, fine up to $250. The statute says "sell a class 3 electric bicycle" with no new/used distinction — it reaches used sales too.
AB 875 (Muratsuchi / Davies)	Ch. 168, Stats. 2025	`§ 22651.08`	Authorizes impoundment, minimum 48 hours, of sub-four-wheel electric devices capable of over 20 mph on motor power alone operated by an unlicensed person, and of Class 3 e-bikes ridden by under-16s.
SB 586 (Jones)	Ch. 588, Stats. 2025	`§ 436.1`, `§§ 38010`, `38012`	Defines "off-highway electric motorcycle": electric, two wheels, straddle seat, no pedals from the manufacturer. Confined to OHV areas, federal land and private property. Barred from streets, sidewalks, bike lanes and paths.
SB 1271 (Min)	Ch. 791, Stats. 2024	`Health & Saf. Code § 26301`	Battery certification became operative January 1, 2026: no e-bike may be distributed, sold, leased or offered for sale or lease unless its battery has been tested to ANSI/CAN/UL 2849 or EN 15194. The rental requirement sits in `§ 26302` and is operative January 1, 2028 (`§ 26304`).

The three that will actually catch people out

The all-hours rear reflector (§ 21201(f)). Nearly nobody knows this exists. An e-bike ridden at noon without a rear red reflector or light is in violation. Cost of compliance: a few dollars.

The unlock-app ban (§ 24016(e)). Note the precise scope. The statute prohibits selling the means of modification, and § 24016(d) prohibits the modification itself. Neither expressly prohibits possessing or using an unlock app — a rider's exposure runs through the tampering prohibition and, once the bike is out of class, through impoundment and the licensing and registration provisions that then apply.

Impoundment (§ 22651.08). This is the provision behind the enforcement sweeps now routine in Southern California beach cities and on the American River Parkway. A 48-hour minimum hold and payment of removal and storage costs turns a citation into a genuinely expensive event, and for an under-16 Class 3 rider the agency may additionally require proof of a completed safety course before release.

Signed in 2026, not yet effective

AB 1614 (Dixon / Davies), Ch. 40, Stats. 2026, signed June 30, 2026. Extends the permanent-seat and passenger-seat requirements of § 21204 from "upon a highway" to "upon a highway or a Class I bikeway." Effective January 1, 2027. This closes a gap that made the no-doubling rule unenforceable on bike paths — which is precisely where two teenagers on one bike is most common.

AB 1569 (Davies / Chen), Ch. 128, Stats. 2026, signed August 27, 2026. Adds a new article to the Education Code establishing a standardized e-bike safety and training program.

Resolved. The program covers grades 7–12, is developed by the Department of Education in consultation with the CHP, and is due by March 1, 2028. An earlier version of this page treated the grade range, the developing agency and the compliance date as open questions; all three are now confirmed.

Signed September 30, 2026 — all three

The 2026 session adjourned at midnight on September 1, 2026. On September 30, 2026 the Governor signed all three remaining e-bike bills. No e-bike bill was vetoed. All three take effect January 1, 2027.

Bill	Author	Chapter	Effective
SB 1167	Blakespear	Ch. 846, Stats. 2026	January 1, 2027
AB 2346	Wilson and Berman	Ch. 842, Stats. 2026	January 1, 2027
AB 2595	Papan	Ch. 843, Stats. 2026	January 1, 2027

If you check this yourself, the Governor's own signing list will mislead you. The legislative update of September 30, 2026 does not list SB 1167, AB 2346 or AB 2595 — it lists their neighbors AB 2596, AB 2599, AB 2601, SB 1158 and SB 1172. Anyone relying on that post alone would conclude all three died. The signings were announced through the authors' offices, CalBike, Streetsblog and CalMatters, and are confirmed in the chaptered text headers. The near-miss numbers are a trap in both directions: SB 1166 and SB 1169 were signed on September 20 while SB 1167 was not, and AB 2594 was signed September 20 while AB 2595 was not.

SB 1167 (Ch. 846) — the big one, but not where people think

Senate 37–0, Assembly 77–0, Senate concurrence 39–0. Zero no votes. Co-sponsored by CalBike.

What does not change. The Class 1/2/3 definitions in § 312.5 survive intact — 750 watts, 20 mph for Class 1 and 2, 28 mph for Class 3, fully operable pedals still required. If you own a compliant e-bike today, it is still the same class on January 1, 2027.

What does change is the legal territory around e-bikes, and it is substantial:

§ 406 — a moped no longer needs operable pedals. The new subdivision makes pedals optional. This is the structural fix for the e-moto problem: it creates a registration category that pedal-less devices can actually occupy, instead of leaving them in a legal void.
§ 405 — "motor-driven cycle" is redefined to cover larger electric motors, with federal safety compliance, a 17-digit VIN and a certification label.
§ 312.5 — the exclusion list expands. More device types explicitly cannot be sold, labeled or advertised as electric bicycles. The class label must now carry brand name and manufacturer, importer or distributor information, and retailers may not sell classification labels outside a physical bike shop or repair facility — aimed at the counterfeit sticker trade.
§ 21065 (new) — peace-officer incident reporting. Crash reports involving e-bikes, mopeds and motor-driven cycles must record the certification-label information, and must affirmatively note when a required label was not available. That last clause is quietly significant: it creates, for the first time, a data trail on how many devices in crashes were never legal.
New Articles 19.1 and 19.5 — identification and operation requirements for mopeds and off-highway electric motorcycles, SAE J2929 certification labels, and an insurance-limitation disclosure in advertising.
Sellers must disclose that a device exceeding e-bike limits is a motor vehicle requiring registration and a license.

And the terminology sweep. SB 1167 replaces "motorized bicycle" with "moped" throughout the Vehicle Code. That is not cosmetic. The bike-path provision in § 21207.5(a) currently prohibits "a motorized bicycle" — a term this site has had to explain is not an electric bicycle. From January 1, 2027 it will say "moped," which makes the point unarguable. See where you may ride.

One correction to an earlier version of this page. It previously described § 21065 as prohibiting operation of an unauthorized electric device. Two independent later readings of the chaptered text describe it instead as an incident-reporting requirement. The reporting reading is published here; the earlier one was wrong.

On the licensing date. Some coverage says SB 1167's driver-licensing provisions start in 2029. That is a misreading. The January 1, 2029 date attaches to Veh. Code § 12804.9, and it is a chaptering-out mechanism — the standard device for avoiding a conflict between two acts amending the same section — not a grace period. The substantive consequence, that a device exceeding e-bike limits is a moped or motor-driven cycle requiring registration and a license, takes effect January 1, 2027.

AB 2346 (Ch. 842) — speed limits on paths and sidewalks

Assembly 74–0, Senate 38–0, concurrence 77–0.

Local path and trail speed limits. Local authorities may set limits on bicycle paths and multiuse trails at 10, 15 or 20 mph, with signage required. Limits established before January 1, 2027 are grandfathered — so the 8 mph in Newport Beach and Hermosa Beach, 12 mph in Pacific Grove and 15 mph across EBRPD and Marin County all stand, and the authority question underneath them is resolved going forward.
A statewide prima facie 10 mph speed limit on sidewalks, with signage required before enforcement. Note carefully what this does not do: it does not legalize sidewalk riding where a local ordinance prohibits it. It sets a speed ceiling where riding is already allowed.
No violation point for a sidewalk speed conviction.
Manufacturer and seller disclosures covering classification, maximum speed and age restrictions, with infraction penalties.
Equipment mandates operative January 1, 2029: a speedometer on Class 2 e-bikes, and front and rear lamps on all e-bikes manufactured, sold or offered for sale on or after that date.
Penalties: first violation up to $500, rising to $1,000 within five years of a prior.

Section numbers flagged. The rules above are confirmed. The citations are not. The introduced version of AB 2346 amended § 22352 at 5 mph rather than adding a new § 22352.1, and which structure survived into the chaptered text could not be confirmed without leginfo. The point-of-sale disclosure article carries no express operative date, so January 1, 2027 follows from the default rule rather than from the text.

AB 2595 (Ch. 843) — San Mateo County becomes the third pilot county

Assembly 65–0, Senate 36–1, concurrence 75–0.

San Mateo County and any local authority within it may now prohibit persons under 12 from operating a Class 1 or Class 2 e-bike. Class 3 is not covered — the statewide minimum of 16 already applies there.

The mechanics mirror the San Diego pilot: a public information campaign at least 30 days before enactment, warnings only for the first 60 days, then a $25 infraction, with no court record and no fee if a parent shows within 120 days that the child completed an e-bike safety course. Parents and guardians are jointly and severally liable. Local authorities must review the San Diego pilot's report at a public meeting before acting. The county reports stops, outcomes, search and seizure actions and under-12 crash data to the Legislature by January 1, 2030, and the section is repealed January 1, 2031.

The section number is not published here. § 21214.9 is attributed to this bill by some sources and to AB 2346 by others. Until that is resolved against the chaptered text, this page describes the rule without asserting its citation. The rule itself is confirmed.

California now has three county pilots: Marin (§ 21214.5, under-16 on Class 2, sunsets January 1, 2029), San Diego (§ 21214.7, under-12 on Class 1 and 2, sunsets January 1, 2029), and San Mateo (under-12 on Class 1 and 2, sunsets January 1, 2031).

Died in the 2026 session

Readers encounter these as if they were law. They are not.

Bill	Author	Would have	Status
AB 1557	Papan	Lowered Class 1/2 cutoff to 16 mph; capped peak power at 750 W and continuous at 250 W; changed Class 3 age and helmet rules; grandfathered pre-2027 bikes	Dead. Cleared Transportation and Judiciary 13–1 in April, then held under submission in Appropriations May 14, 2026
AB 1942	Bauer-Kahan	Required DMV registration and license plates for Class 2 and 3	Dead. Passed Assembly Transportation, then failed
SB 956	Choi	Allowed Orange County authorities to require e-bike licensing and plates	Dead
AB 2284	Dixon	Required the Attorney General to publish a public list of devices marketed as e-bikes that do not meet the legal definition	Dead. Accounts of how conflict — see below
AB 1995	Patel	Required the State Fire Marshal to convene a lithium battery working group	Dead

AB 2284's cause of death is disputed. Streetsblog reported on April 22, 2026 that it initially failed and then passed Assembly Transportation 15–0 after an Attorney General statement circulated. Streets For All's session wrap-up says it "failed in Assembly Transportation." CalBike lists it as dead. The best reconciliation is that it cleared Transportation on reconsideration and died later in the process, but this is unresolved and flagged rather than smoothed over.

Where local rules stand

Local ordinance activity accelerated through 2026 and much of it is still in motion. Jurisdictions with rules under active consideration but not adopted as of the verification date include Riverside (a Council vote was scheduled for September 15, 2026 — outcome unconfirmed), Long Beach (Class 3 sidewalk ban agreed to be drafted in May 2026, multi-use path ban scaled back), Encinitas (impound authority, dismount zones and a fix-it-ticket diversion approved in concept January 2026), Folsom (two ordinances introduced September 8, 2026, then sent back to be merged), Half Moon Bay (drafting since 2023), Imperial Beach, and the City of Los Angeles (a motion to amend LAMC § 56.15 to cover e-bikes on sidewalks).

Rules that have loosened are worth noting too, since they cut against the prevailing direction: Santa Monica's 2022 ordinance affirmatively permits Class 1 and 2 on the Marvin Braude beach path; Newport Beach's Ord. 2025-35 expanded its sidewalk-cycling-allowed map; East Bay Regional Park District's September 2023 amendment opened roughly 850 miles of trail to Class 1; Long Beach proposes to delete an outdated park riding ban; Imperial Beach is moving to strike bicycle licensing requirements; Oceanside and Imperial Beach both declined age bans on the strength of their own data; and Marin Municipal Water District rescinded its 2024 pilots after CEQA litigation, replacing them with a narrower Class 1 fire-road pilot running to mid-2027.

Common questions

What new e-bike laws took effect in California in 2026?

Six. AB 544 requires an e-bike to carry a rear red reflector or light at all hours (§ 21201(f)). AB 545 prohibits selling any product, device or application that can modify an e-bike's speed out of class (§ 24016(e)). AB 965 prohibits selling a Class 3 e-bike to someone under 16 (§ 21212.5). AB 875 authorizes impoundment of out-of-class electric devices and of Class 3 bikes ridden by under-16s (§ 22651.08). SB 586 defines off-highway electric motorcycles and bars them from streets, sidewalks, bike lanes and paths (§ 436.1). And SB 1271's battery certification requirement became operative (Health & Saf. Code § 26301).

Do e-bikes need a light during the day in California now?

A rear one, yes. § 21201(f), added by AB 544 effective January 1, 2026, provides that "an electric bicycle shall comply with paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) during all hours" — paragraph (2) being the rear red reflector or solid or flashing red light with a built-in reflector, visible from 500 feet. The front white lamp remains a darkness-only requirement. This is the single most commonly violated new rule, because almost nobody knows about it.

Did SB 1167 change the California e-bike class definitions?

No — and this is the most misreported point about it. The Class 1/2/3 definitions in Veh. Code § 312.5 survive intact: 750 watts, 20 mph for Class 1 and 2, 28 mph for Class 3, and fully operable pedals still required. What SB 1167 changes is the territory around them. §§ 405 and 406 are rewritten, a moped no longer needs operable pedals, the § 312.5 exclusion list expands, § 21065 is added for peace-officer incident reporting, and the term "motorized bicycle" is replaced with "moped" across the Vehicle Code. Streetsblog and KQED both reported the bill leaves the definitions alone; that is right about § 312.5 and wrong about the rest.

What did SB 1167 actually do?

Signed September 30, 2026 as Chapter 846, Statutes of 2026, effective January 1, 2027. It is the most comprehensive e-bike bill in a decade. It expands the list of devices that cannot be marketed as e-bikes, require brand and manufacturer information on class labels, redefine "motor-driven cycle" (§ 405) and "moped" (§ 406) — making operable pedals optional for a moped — and add § 21065 prohibiting operation of an unauthorised two- or three-wheeled electric device capable of exceeding 20 mph. It passed the Senate 40–0 and the Assembly 77–0 with CalBike co-sponsorship and was presented to the Governor on September 4, 2026. Signature looks likely on those margins, but it is not certain until it happens. Driver-licensing provisions would not take effect until January 1, 2029.

Did California pass a law requiring e-bike registration or license plates?

No. Two 2026 bills tried and both died. AB 1942 (Bauer-Kahan) would have required DMV registration and state-issued license plates for Class 2 and Class 3 e-bikes; it passed Assembly Transportation and then failed. SB 956 (Choi) would have let Orange County local authorities require e-bike licensing and plates; it died too. Registration would need statutory authorization because AB 1909 amended § 39002 to prohibit local bicycle licensing outright.

Is California going to lower the e-bike speed limit to 16 mph?

It was proposed and it failed. AB 1557 (Papan) would have lowered the Class 1 and Class 2 assist cutoff to 16 mph, capped peak power at 750 W and continuous power at 250 W, and changed Class 3 age and helmet rules, with a grandfather clause for pre-2027 bikes. It cleared Transportation and Judiciary but was held under submission in Assembly Appropriations on May 14, 2026, which kills a bill for the session. It could return in a future session.

When do the Marin and San Diego e-bike pilot programs end?

Both sunset January 1, 2029. § 21214.5 (Marin, under-16 on Class 2 plus all-ages Class 2 helmets) and § 21214.7 (San Diego County, under-12 on Class 1 and 2) each become inoperative and are repealed on that date, with reports due to the Legislature by January 1, 2028. Unless the Legislature extends them or makes them permanent, every local ordinance adopted under that authority loses its statutory basis. The pending AB 2595 would create a San Mateo County pilot sunsetting January 1, 2031.