New e-bike category ups the power to 1000 watts

New EU rules let e-bike makers add more powerful motors to their machines

The latest ruling on e-bikes from the EU allows the sale of e-bikes with much more powerful electric motors. Under the previous legislation, e-bikes were limited to 250 watt motors and assistance had to cut out once the rider’s speed reached 25kph.

The 25kph limit stills stands, but the catchily named L1e-A classification now allows e-bikes to be powered by motors of up to 1000 watts. There’s no need for the rider to actually pedal either: power output can be regulated by a throttle.

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Paul Norman

Paul started writing for Cycling Weekly in 2015, covering cycling tech, new bikes and product testing. Since then, he’s reviewed hundreds of bikes and thousands of other pieces of cycling equipment for the magazine and the Cycling Weekly website.

He’s been cycling for a lot longer than that though and his travels by bike have taken him all around Europe and to California. He’s been riding gravel since before gravel bikes existed too, riding a cyclocross bike through the Chilterns and along the South Downs.