Which class is yours, and what the law says

1Look

The label is on the machine, not on the box

It is printed on and meant to stay on, and it carries three things: the class, the top assisted speed and the wattage. Everything in this lesson depends on those three.

2The idea

What the label is for

Class 1 is pedal assist to 20 mph. Class 2 adds a throttle at the same 20. Class 3 assists to 28 mph, and in Illinois a Class 3 must carry a speedometer along with permanent labelling of its classification, speed and wattage.

Every rule that follows hangs off that one number. How old you have to be, where you are allowed to ride, whether the machine is even an e-bike as far as the state is concerned. If yours is not labelled, you cannot answer any of those questions about it.

3The idea

The ages, from 1 January 2027

Illinois Public Act 104-0854 takes effect on 1 January 2027, and it sets minimum ages.
Class 1 and Class 2: 15 or older.
Class 3: 16 or older.
E-scooters and other electric micromobility devices: 16 or older.

These are floors, not opinions. They are not a judgement about how well you ride, and nobody at the roadside is going to be interested in how long you have been riding for. The machine has a class, you have an age, and either they match or they do not.

4The idea

Three more things the same law says

No sidewalks. A low-speed e-bike may not be operated on a sidewalk.
No passenger if you are under 18, unless that passenger is your sibling, stepsibling, child or stepchild.
Police may impound the machine.

Impounded means it goes on a truck, and a parent gets it back rather than you. That is the part riders tend to find out about last, and it does not have to be your own machine for it to happen to it.

5Your turn

Read four labels

The fourth one has no class printed on it anywhere. That is deliberate.

6Decide

Your friend is 15 and has just been given a Class 3.

7The idea

Over 750 watts and it stops being an e-bike

From 2027, anything over 750 watts is not an e-bike in Illinois at all. It becomes a motor driven cycle, which needs a driver’s licence, registration, insurance and a title, and it is barred from bike paths, trails and bike lanes.

This is the one that catches people who thought they had bought an e-bike. Plenty of machines sold as e-bikes are over the line, and a machine modified to go faster can cross it too. The wattage is printed on the label, which is why the label matters more than the shop’s description.

8Find them

Which of these are true under the state law from 2027?

Tap the ones that count.

9Say it

The sentence for the friend who wants a ride on the back

You will need it in a car park at some point, with two people already waiting, and it goes far better if it is a sentence you have said before.

10The idea

What the state does not require

There is no state helmet law in Illinois, and no state requirement to take a safety course before you ride. If you assumed there was one of each, there is not. That is worth knowing plainly rather than discovering sideways.

The state sets a floor, and it is a low floor. Towns and park districts are allowed to add their own rules on top of it, and many have, so check what yours says. Not being required to do something is not the same as it being a good idea — which is where the next badge starts.

11Do it

Before you leave this page