E-Bikes to Be DMV Registered

As electric bicycles and motorized scooters become increasingly popular as an alternative mode of transportation, California lawmakers are proposing Assembly Bill 1942 to mandate statewide registration requirements for high-speed micromobility devices.

The Electric Bicycle Registration and Licensing Act, authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, requires owners of Class 2 and Class 3 electric bicycles register their vehicles with the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Under the proposed law, these specific e-bikes must display a special license plate issued by the department to operate legally upon public streets and off-street parking facilities.

Class 2 e-bikes are equipped with a throttle and motor assistance up to 20 mph, while Class 3 e-bikes provide pedal assistance up to 28 mph. Operating a Class 2 or Class 3 electric bicycle without the mandated registration and license plate would constitute an infraction, punishable by a fine of not more than $100 on the first offense.

The revenue from these registration fees and penalties would be deposited into a newly created Electric Bicycle Registration Fund in the State Treasury to cover the program’s administrative costs.

In Long Beach, data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey estimates that 1,334 residents use bicycles, including both pedal and electric, to commute to work, with 4,495 in an “Other” category that might include traditional and electric scooters. The Long Beach Shared Micromobility Program is currently subject to a municipal cap of 4,000 permitted e-scooters citywide.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports e-scooters are predominantly used by young adults aged 18 to 34 for short-distance trips. Private e-bike ownership skews toward adults aged 35 to 65 who utilize the pedal-assist technology to commute. However, a rapidly growing demographic consists of youth ages 10 to 17 who are using high-powered Class 2 and Class 3 e-bikes, as well as illegal electric motorcycles, for neighborhood recreation and school commutes.

A 2022 city report indicates that 66% of all e-scooter trips begin and end in Long Beach City Council District 1. In comparison, adjacent coastal districts account for an additional 27% of trips. By contrast, the inland, working-class neighborhoods of North Long Beach account for merely 0.01% of total citywide scooter trips.

From 2018 through 2024, the Long Beach Police Department reported 113 traffic crashes involving e-scooters, with the majority involving direct collisions with standard motor vehicles.

The high retail value of modern e-bikes, which frequently cost between $1,000 and $3,000, has made them lucrative targets for organized theft rings. In 2024, Long Beach residents reported 1,515 stolen bicycles to local police. Law enforcement recovered only 57 of those vehicles, representing a recovery rate of approximately 4%. Criminals primarily target the integrated lithium-ion batteries and advanced electronic components for resale on secondary markets.

The current landscape of local micromobility regulations in Long Beach is the result of a multi-year effort to establish stability following the initial deployment of dockless e-scooters by venture-backed firms in the summer of 2018. That initial rollout led to widespread vehicle abandonment and severe pedestrian conflicts, prompting the Long Beach City Council to explicitly ban all electric and motorized scooters from the 3.1-mile Shoreline Pedestrian Bikepath by early 2020.

Following the ban, Long Beach established the highly structured Shared Micromobility Permit Program. If a user rides a shared scooter into a prohibited area, the vehicle’s electric propulsion is automatically deactivated by the software. The city also generates revenue to cover administrative and infrastructure costs by charging operators a $25,000 annual permit fee, a $75 per-vehicle fee and a $0.25 per-trip surcharge.

To address recklessness posed by private e-bike owners, the Long Beach City Council recently proposed the Electric Bicycle Interventions to Keep Everyone Safe ordinance, referred to as the EBIKES law.

This legislation reinforces existing municipal codes that prohibit riding bicycles and e-bikes on sidewalks within any business district, on bridges, and adjacent to school buildings or senior citizen developments. To strengthen deterrence, the city council increased the penalties for illegally riding motorized bicycles on sidewalks and boardwalks, raising the fines from a maximum of $250 to a minimum of $50 and a maximum of $500 per violation.

In May 2025, the city initiated a 12-month E-Scooter Beach Bike Path Pilot, reversing the 2020 ban. To mitigate pedestrian hazards, the pilot limits e-scooters to a maximum speed of 15 mph and uses geofencing technology to enforce mandatory 5 mph slow zones in high-density pedestrian areas.

Concurrently, to ensure low-income residents are not excluded from the economic and transit benefits of micromobility, the city launched the Electric Bicycle Lending Library, which provides eligible residents with free, three-month rentals of utility and cargo e-bikes.

For any inquiries or further information, please contact Jose Cervantes at JoseC.Press@pm.me