Author: Anthony Baratta
According to eCycleElectric Consultants and the Light Electric Vehicle Association, 2.2 million units of complete ebikes were imported in 2025, up 29% from the 1.7 million imported in 2024 and the total e-bike market value was estimated at $2 billion to $3.78B, surpassing, for the first time, total import dollars value of traditional non-electric bikes in the U.S. In other words, these things are popular and becoming more popular year after year.
Last summer, down in the south Jersey shore towns that I frequent, it seemed these e-bikes were everywhere. Not so much this year. N.J.’s new law has a lot to do with that. NJ’s new bike law took effect on July 19, 2026, requiring that every e-bike operated on public roads must be registered with the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission, which will issue two license plate stickers to display on both sides of the front fork. Insurance is needed for e-bikes in the higher speed class. A lower speed class bike, the motor only assists pedaling and cuts off at 20 mph and cannot propel the bike on its own with a throttle, does not require insurance and the rider does not need a helmet if over 17 years old (riders under 17 must wear a helmet when riding any bike in NJ). But, a higher speed class bike, which can propel the bike without pedaling up to 28 mph, must be covered by liability insurance and all riders must wear a helmet. One additional key aspect of the law, riders must be at least 15 years old to ride any e-bike on a public road.
Important note: regardless of the law, it is clearly the safer step to always wear a helmet when riding any kind of bike as it significantly reduces the risk of major head injury if involved in a crash.
The new law was placed into effect because of the multiple teenagers died in e-bike crashes in 2025 including a 9 year old in Margate. Nationally, e-bike injuries rose by 293% from 2109 to 2022 according to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s reference to a Columbia University study in its August 4, 2026 article describing the new NJ e-bike law.
PA does not require that e-bikes be registered or insured. So, can you take your PA e-bike down the shore for the weekend without registering it? No. You must make an in-person appointment at a NJ MVC office to get your plate/sticker and if you don’t have a driver’s license, you’ll have to get a license to be able to operate the e-bike legally.
But there is something much more important for operators of e-bikes to understand if injured in a crash with a car or truck in NJ. If injured while on a pedal bike (no motor) in a crash with a car, the injured bike rider can recover first party benefits, which include medical and underinsured motorist benefits, under their household auto policy like they would if they were a pedestrian. In 2024 the NJ Supreme Court decided that operators of e-bikes injured in a car crash would NOT be entitled to first party medical or underinsured benefits. The new law helps change that decision by equating low speed e-bikes with traditional bicycles and pedestrians. But, high speed e-bikes will not be protected under the household auto policy, and instead will be treated like mopeds, which require their own insurance separate from the auto policy.
