Nouvelles

California has just outlawed the phrase "e-bike" as a marketing label for anything that is not one — and the fallout reaches every rider and buyer, including in Europe. On 30 September 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1167, which bans the sale, advertising or labelling of electric two-wheelers as "e-bikes" if they exceed the state's legal definition: no more than 750 watts of motor power, no faster than 20 mph (about 32 km/h) on throttle or 28 mph (about 45 km/h) with pedal assist. The law takes effect on 1 January 2027, and it passed the legislature without a single "no" vote. Whether you ride a street-legal electric scooter or a private-grounds monster, the line between the two just got a lot harder to blur. The numbers behind the bill explain why it moved so fast. Under current California law a Class 3 e-bike cannot legally be ridden by anyone under 16, yet parents were routinely buying children machines marketed as e-bikes that were, in reality, far faster electric motorcycles. Senator Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas), the bill's author, said it plainly in her press release: "Bicycle safety starts with knowing what your bike can do." For European buyers the lesson is identical — and the EU already has a stricter standard. A legal EU pedelec is capped at 250W of continuous rated power and 25 km/h of assistance under EN 15194, which is why a machine like the SUNNIGOO X2MAX dual-motor electric scooter must be understood for what it is: a private-ground off-road machine, not an e-bike. What SB 1167 actually changes The law, which took two years of legislative work and backing from co-sponsors CalBike, PeopleForBikes, Streets For All and Streets Are For Everyone, redraws the boundary between e-bikes and everything else in the vehicle code. Honest labelling becomes mandatory Every e-bike sold in California must carry an easy-to-read label showing its class (1, 2 or 3), its maximum assisted speed, its motor wattage, and the brand name of the manufacturer, importer or distributor. Devices outside the e-bike definition can no longer be advertised, labelled or sold as e-bikes — online and social-media advertising explicitly included. Violations count as misleading statements under California's unfair-competition and false-advertising statutes. Mopeds and motor-driven cycles get precise definitions SB 1167 extends the "motor-driven cycle" category to electric highway motorcycles with motors up to 3.75 kW (about 5 brake horsepower) — a category that previously applied only to petrol machines — and redefines mopeds as two- or three-wheelers that travel up to 30 mph with an electric motor under 3 kW or a small internal combustion engine. In short: if it goes faster or pulls harder than an e-bike, it must be called what it is, and it requires registration and a licence to operate. Better crash data Law enforcement must now record the available classification and label information in incident reports. California's crash statistics have been muddied for years by every fast two-wheeler being logged as an "e-bike" — a data problem European safety agencies share, as we noted in our analysis of the US CPSC micromobility report, which found that venue and vehicle type, not raw wattage, drive most incidents. The European mirror: 250W, not 750W Europe never had the grey zone California is now closing. EU regulation treats a pedelec with 250W continuous rated power and motor assistance cutting off at 25 km/h as a bicycle — no type approval, no licence, no insurance. Anything faster or more powerful leaves the bicycle category and enters moped or motorcycle law, with registration, insurance and helmets attached. We walked through the details in our guide to the 250W EU standard and how EPAC rules differ from e-scooter wattage limits. This is exactly why honest wattage labelling matters when you shop. The X2MAX carries a 1200W × 2 brushless dual-motor system (2400W combined), a 48V 18Ah (864Wh) battery and 10-inch all-terrain pneumatic tyres. On public roads it is speed-limited to 25 km/h — but with the dual motors engaged in off-road mode it reaches up to 65 km/h, which is private-grounds territory only. In California, that would place it firmly in the motor-driven-cycle bucket. In the EU it is not a pedelec at all, and riders should treat it accordingly: Germany, for example, only type-approves our N5 (ABE) for public roads, and X2MAX is not ABE type-approved for German public roads; in Spain the road-legal picks from our range are N8, N9 and N9mate. Venue over wattage: how to buy in 2026 The common thread between California's new law and EU rules is that where you ride matters more than what the listing says. Before buying any electric two-wheeler, check three things: the continuous rated power (not the peak figure), the assisted speed limit, and whether the product page states the vehicle's legal category for your country. A capable off-road machine like the X2MAX — which folds in 3 seconds, carries riders up to 120 kg and costs EUR 588 — is a brilliant buy for private land, fields and closed courses. It is not a bicycle, and no label will ever make it one. The Philippines learned a harder version of the same lesson when it banned unregistered e-bikes and e-trikes from main roads on 2 January 2026, as covered in our report on the LTO ban. Conclusion SB 1167 does not ban powerful electric vehicles — it bans lying about them. From 1 January 2027, anything faster than 750W/28 mph in California must be sold as the moped or motor-driven cycle it is, with labels to prove it. Takeaway: Europe's 250W/25 km/h pedelec line is even stricter, so buy for the venue you actually ride, and let honest labels — not marketing — tell you what you are buying. FAQs 1. What does California SB 1167 do? Signed on 30 September 2026 and effective 1 January 2027, it prohibits marketing, labelling or selling any electric two-wheeler as an e-bike unless it meets the state's e-bike definition (750W, 20 mph throttle / 28 mph pedal assist). It also mandates class labels with top speed, wattage and manufacturer name, and requires police crash reports to record classification data. 2. Is a 2400W dual-motor scooter an e-bike? No — not in California under SB 1167 and not in the EU. A 2400W machine like the SUNNIGOO X2MAX falls into motor-driven-cycle or moped categories and is restricted to private grounds or off-road use (up to 65 km/h on private grounds). On EU public roads only 250W/25 km/h pedelecs ride as bicycles; a road-legal e-scooter in Germany needs ABE type approval, which only the SUNNIGOO N5 currently has in our range. 3. What is the EU equivalent of the e-bike definition? The EU's EPAC standard (EN 15194, with Regulation 168/2013 exemptions) defines a pedelec as 250W continuous rated power with assistance cutting off at 25 km/h. Above that line, the vehicle is treated as a moped or motorcycle, with registration, insurance and helmet requirements varying by member state. 4. Does SB 1167 affect European riders? Not directly — it is California law. But it signals where consumer-protection regulation is heading globally: honest classification, visible labels and better crash data. European buyers already have clearer rules, and the practical advice is the same on both continents: check rated wattage and speed limits before you buy, and match the vehicle to where you are allowed to ride it. People also ask: What is the 250W EU standard and how do EPAC rules differ from e-scooter limits? What did the US CPSC micromobility report find about e-scooter injuries? Is the SUNNIGOO X2MAX good value as an off-road dual-motor scooter? About SUNNIGOO: SUNNIGOO is a European brand manufacturer of electric scooters and e-bikes, with warehouses in Germany, Poland and France, a 2-year warranty on motor and frame, CE EN 17128 compliance and its own service centre in Messel, Germany. Orders are delivered within 3-7 working days. We publish the legal category, rated power and speed limits of every model — from the 250W B-series pedelecs to the off-road X2MAX — so you always know exactly what you are buying and where you can ride it.