The EU is redrawing the L1e line, and small electric motorcycles are on the wrong side
A proposed revision to the light-vehicle categories would push several popular e-motos out of moped territory and into full motorcycle homologation. Manufacturers have until March to object.
The L1e category is the reason a lot of electric motorcycles are affordable in Europe. It caps continuous power at 4 kW and top speed at 45 km/h for L1e-B, and in exchange it exempts vehicles from a large amount of the type-approval burden that applies to real motorcycles.
A revision now circulating in draft would change how continuous power is measured — and that apparently minor change moves several popular machines out of the category entirely.
What the draft actually says
The current rule measures continuous rated power under a 30-minute test at a thermal steady state. The draft replaces that with a 60-minute test and tightens the ambient temperature window.
For a bike with generous cooling and a conservative controller, nothing changes. For a bike that is rated at 4 kW because it derates at minute 31, the new figure is the honest one — and the honest one is often above 4 kW.
Who it hits
The machines at risk are the ones sold as 4 kW L1e-B models with peak outputs three or four times that. That describes a large share of the European market for small electric motorcycles — including several bikes marketed at riders too young to hold a full motorcycle licence.
If those bikes reclassify to L3e, the consequences stack up quickly:
- Full motorcycle type approval, including ABS
- A category A licence rather than an AM moped licence
- Motorcycle insurance rates
- In several member states, a minimum rider age of 18 rather than 16
The last one is the commercially significant one. A meaningful part of the market for these machines is riders aged 16 and 17.
What happens next
The consultation closes in March 2027, with any adopted change unlikely to take effect before 2029 and near-certain to carry a transition period for existing type approvals.
Nobody buying a bike this year needs to worry about it being deregistered. Anyone planning a product around the 4 kW line should be reading the draft closely — and anyone shopping for a teenager should ask a dealer, in writing, which category the bike is approved under.
We will update this piece as the consultation progresses.
