To ride an electric bike do I need a licence?

The short answer is NO you do not need a licence of any kind for most electric bikes. However people tend to call any bike with an electric motor an e-bike so how can you tell which ones are legal to ride on public roads without a licence from those that are not? Thankfully the law is a bit clearer for electric bicycles that have electric motors:

• The government classifies an electric bike to be road legal if it has a continuous motor output of 250W or less
• has functional pedals which must be in use for electrical assistance to be provided
• is limited to 15.5MPH.

If it meets these criteria it is classed as “Electrically assisted pedal cycles (EAPCs)” and is allowed to be ridden on UK public roads without a licence.

However, if the bike has a motor rated more than 250W or an assisted speed of higher than 15.5mph will you need a moped or motorcycle licence depending on its power output.

For a more complete list of rules on ebikes, please see the Government website here.

So what this means in practice is that the motor will only assist you up to 15.5mph, once that speed is achieved the bikes built in controller will cut out at any speed above 15.5mph and you need to keep on pedalling to gain more speed but will assist you again once you are at or below 15.5mph. For town and city commuting this is perfect, as it really helps you propel away from lights quicker and can give cautious riders more confidence. It is also great for off-road riders and bicycle paths as its a fast pace but controllable for most. However if you are offroad, you can use more powerful ebikes with no 250W limit.

Is there an age requirement to ride an ebike (EAPC)?

yes, you must be 14 years of age or older to ride an ebike on uk roads.