Own An E-Bike in Maine? You May Be Breaking The Law..

You really can't go anywhere in Maine these days without seeing someone (or several people) on an electric bicycle.

As a motorcycle enthusiast, I didn't really know that much about electric bikes before today. I thought I understood the basics, right? It's a bicycle that has an electric motor on it that can help you climb hills easier and get places faster.

And, while that's still mostly true, what I didn't realize is that there are several different classes of e-bikes. Classes that, depending on which one you own and operate, change the laws that you have to follow when riding it.

Thanks in part to a handy-dandy info-graphic that was shared by the Kennebunk, Maine Police Department's Facebook Page, I now understand this a little bit (okay, a lotta bit) more than I did before.

It turns out that e-bikes all fall into one of three different classes. Class I is a bike that has an electric motor that only engages when the rider is pedaling and will stop providing power once the unit reaches 20+ mph.

A class II e-bike has a motor that can be used without pedaling at all but cuts out at 20 mph. A Class III bike has a motor that provides power while pedaling but can provide assistance up to 28mph.

As you can imagine, the rules and laws that go along with each one of these classes are pretty different. If you own and/or ride an electric bike, you should take a look at the graphic below to better understand the do's and don'ts here in Maine.