NYC Sends Cease-and-Desist Letters to 40 Online E-Bike Retailers
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- Zohran Mamdani's office sent cease-and-desist letters to 40 online retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Target, Temu and Wayfair, demanding they stop selling e-bikes and scooters that don't comply with New York City law, with retailers facing fines of up to $2,000 if they don't comply by later this month.
- New York City caps electric bicycles at 25 mph (40 km/h), stricter than most of the US where Class 3 e-bikes reaching 28 mph (45 km/h) are legal, and many overseas-made listings advertise several thousand watts of power and speeds above 30 mph despite being marketed as 'electric bikes.'
- Amazon said it is 'reviewing the products identified by the city' and is willing to work with the mayor's office and City Council, while noting it already requires e-bikes sold in its store to meet applicable safety standards.
- Mamdani separately declared a goal of cracking down on even faster e-motos that fall in off-road electric motorbike territory, a category the article says has become increasingly blurred with powerful two-wheelers sold online.
- Online marketplaces host thousands of third-party sellers shipping directly to consumers with little regard for local vehicle classifications, a contrast the source draws with brick-and-mortar bike shops that generally stock compliant products.
Why it matters: With roughly $2,000 fines per non-compliant listing and a hard deadline this month, the 40 retailers named — including Amazon and Walmart — face a compliance squeeze that goes beyond a single city: if NYC's 25 mph cap spreads, online marketplaces may need city-by-city filtering for thousands of third-party e-bike sellers that currently ship nationwide with one listing.
Ask SkimNews
