Class 2 E-Bikes Under Florida Law

What Makes a Bicycle Class 2

Fla. Stat. § 316.003(23)(b) defines a “Class 2 electric bicycle” as one “equipped with a motor that may be used exclusively to propel the electric bicycle and that ceases to provide assistance when the electric bicycle reaches the speed of 20 miles per hour.”

Four words in that subsection carry more weight than any other phrase in Florida's e-bike scheme: “may be used exclusively to propel.” A Class 2 machine moves under motor power alone. That is the throttle, and it is the only structural difference between Class 2 and Class 1 — both cut assistance at 20 mph, and both must satisfy the general requirements in § 316.003(23): fully operable pedals, a seat or saddle, and a motor of less than 750 watts.

A throttle does not make a machine a moped or a motor vehicle. Fla. Stat. § 316.003(46) expressly excludes electric bicycles from the definition of “motor vehicle,” and § 316.20655(1) gives the operator a bicycle rider’s rights and duties regardless of class.

Why Class 2 Is the Hard Case for Insurance

This is the most consequential thing on this page, and it is worth being precise about.

Fla. Stat. § 627.736(4)(e) pays personal injury protection benefits to a person injured “while not an occupant of a self-propelled vehicle,” and that qualifier governs the owner at (4)(e)1., the resident relative at (4)(e)3., and other persons at (4)(e)4. alike. Chapter 627 does not define “self-propelled vehicle.”

Two lines of authority pull in opposite directions. In Velez v. Criterion Insurance Co., 461 So. 2d 1348 (Fla. 1984), the Florida Supreme Court held that a moped was not a self-propelled vehicle for PIP purposes, reasoning from how the Legislature had classified it rather than from the presence of a motor. In Esker v. Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co., 593 So. 2d 303 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992), the court applied the “normal and ordinarily accepted usage” of the term — vehicles requiring no outside power source — and the category described in that line of cases excludes bicycles, skateboards, and mopeds.

Class 1 and Class 3 fit that reasoning comfortably: their motors assist only while the rider pedals, so the rider is always a power source. Class 2 does not. A throttle-driven bicycle moving with the rider's feet still requires no outside power source in any ordinary sense, and the statute defining it says the motor “may be used exclusively to propel” the machine.

A Florida administrative decision has noticed exactly this. In Gonzalez v. Division of Hunting and Game Management, DOAH Case No. 20-004051RX (2020), concerning e-bike use on state lands, the administrative law judge observed that it is “difficult to see why a Class 2 electric bicycle should not be considered a ‘self-propelled vehicle.’” That was a rule challenge under a different statutory scheme and binds no one construing chapter 627 — but it shows a decision-maker reaching for the distinction.

None of this is settled. We have found no reported Florida appellate decision applying § 627.736 to a modern statutory electric bicycle. The full analysis, including why a rider excluded from PIP may also escape the tort threshold in § 627.737(2), is at PIP and e-bike riders.

Legally Reviewed By

David I. Shiner, Esq.

Founder, Shiner Law Group · AV Preeminent® rated · Florida Bar member since 2002

David I. Shiner founded Shiner Law Group and has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2002. He is a graduate of Nova Southeastern University’s law school and holds an AV Preeminent® rating from Martindale-Hubbell. The firm represents injured people across Florida from offices in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Pierce, Orlando, Wellington, and Belle Glade, and handles these cases on a contingency basis with free consultations and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.

Content on this page legally reviewed by David I. Shiner, Esq. · Fla. Bar No. 572721 About this site →

Where Class 2 Gets Restricted

State law does not distinguish. Fla. Stat. § 316.20655(7) permits any e-bike operator to ride “where bicycles are allowed,” and nothing in § 316.20655 treats Class 2 differently from Class 1.

Local government is where the distinction appears. § 316.20655(1) preserves the power of a municipality, county, or state agency with jurisdiction over a bicycle path, multiuse path, or trail network to restrict or prohibit e-bikes, and of a body with jurisdiction over a beach under § 161.54(3) or a dune under § 161.54(4) to do the same. Where those bodies distinguish by class, Class 2 is the one most often excluded — a throttle-driven machine on a shared path raises different concerns from a pedal-assist one.

Since ch. 2025-149, Laws of Florida, § 316.20655(8) also permits a local government to set minimum age requirements and to require government-issued photo identification. Those powers are not class-specific on the face of the statute, but they are new and they are being used.

The practical consequence is that the controlling text for where you may ride a Class 2 machine is the municipal code, not the statute. See where e-bikes may be ridden.

What to Establish After a Crash

• Photograph the classification label. Fla. Stat. § 316.20655(3) requires it to show the classification number, top assisted speed, and motor wattage. On a Class 2 machine this is the document that says what the throttle could and could not do.
• Record whether you were pedaling or on the throttle at the moment of the crash. It is a fact you will not remember precisely in six months, and it may matter to the coverage argument.
• Preserve the bicycle. If the motor did not cut out under braking as § 316.20655(6) requires, that is a product issue as well as a safety one — and it is established from the machine.
• Keep receipts for anything fitted to the motor or controller. § 316.20655(4) prohibits tampering that changes motor-powered speed capability or engagement unless the label is replaced, and a modification argument is the first thing a defense reaches for.
• Pull the local ordinance as it stood on the date, if the crash happened on a path, trail, or beach.

On fault generally, nothing about the class changes the framework: Fla. Stat. § 768.81(2) reduces an award in proportion to the rider's share and § 768.81(6) bars recovery entirely above 50 percent. And Fla. Stat. § 316.2065(18) excludes helmet non-use from the analysis whatever the class.

Frequently Asked Questions