How to Buy an Electric Bike

In 2022, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission sent a letter urging the more than 2,000 manufacturers and importers of ebikes to review the relevant safety standards and ensure that their products comply with them.

“It was poised to create mandatory federal standards for lithium-ion battery safety,” says Lovell, “but the agency is currently at a standstill in terms of creating new regulations while it is being reviewed by the Trump administration.”

Currently, UL certification for electric bicycles is required only in New York City and Hoboken, New Jersey. “PeopleForBikes has advocated for model legislation, crafted by the bicycle industry, that accepts both the UL standard and the EN standard for lithium-ion batteries and e-systems,” says Lovell. That model legislation is law in New York state and California and soon will be in Illinois as well.

To find out if the ebike you’re eyeing is third-party certified, look for a sticker on the frame or battery that contains information on its compliance.

What Is the DIN Standard?

Cargo bikes carry heavy loads—kids, groceries, building supplies, and whatever else can possibly be hauled on two to three to four wheels. As a result, the brakes and other components of a cargo bike that allow it to safely stop and go need extra scrutiny.

In 2020, the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) developed a “DIN” standard to address this. The result is Din 79010, “the first standard to specify the testing methods and safety requirements of electric and nonelectric cargo bikes,” says Lovell, adding that both single-track (two-wheeled) and multi-track (three-wheeled or more) bikes meant for transporting general cargo and/or passengers are covered in this standard.

“While Din 79010 is being explored in Europe as mandatory, the US has no plans to adopt this as a mandatory standard in the near future,” says Lovell. But many cargo bike companies, like Tern, voluntarily comply with the standard.

How Will Tariffs Affect My Purchase?

If you’re looking at an ebike, we suggest buying one right now, before final deals are made between the United States and China, along with other countries like Vietnam, Taiwan, and Cambodia.

“Currently we are all waiting to see the final form of the reciprocal tariffs,” says Matt Moore, general and policy counsel at PeopleforBikes. “Most electric bicycles are imported from China, and the stacked tariff rate right now adds up to 55 percent.”

Very high tariffs, Moore warns, will force significant price increases throughout the supply chain, ending with the consumer’s digital pocketbook. Sustained high tariffs will lead to permanently higher prices, reducing affordability and consumer demand.

“Smaller companies will be least able to manage these additional costs, and some may be forced out of business,” says Moore. “Since electric bicycles have been driving growth in our very competitive industry where overall unit demand has been declining for the last few years, higher costs and prices due to tariffs have the potential to be an existential crisis.”