E-Bikes, Scooters and Mopeds in Minnesota: What Families Need

Before you buy: what counts as an e-bike

Subdivision 27 of section 169.011 has a checklist. Two or three wheels. A seat and pedals that genuinely work. Compliance with the federal bicycle safety rule, 16 CFR part 1512. A motor of 750 watts or smaller. A fit with one of the classes. And a battery or drive system that an independent lab has tested. A bike designed or marketed to be unlocked beyond its class is excluded.

Class 1: pedal assist only, cutting out at 20 mph. Class 2: can run without pedaling, also cutting out at 20 mph. Class 3: pedal assist only, cutting out at 28 mph. Multiple mode bikes can switch class, but whenever the throttle is in use they are held to 20 mph.

Before you buy: age and helmets

Minnesota uses a single age for all classes: operators must have turned 15. Plenty of other states only age-limit Class 3, so this surprises families. A 13 or 14 year old who unwraps an e-bike as a present will have to leave it in the garage for a while.

No helmet rule appears in the e-bike sections, for any age. The state Driver's Manual adds that an electric-assisted bicycle is not a moped, so no test or license is involved, only the age floor of 15. We would still put a helmet on any young rider.

Once it is home: roads, paths, sidewalks and trails

On roads, an e-bike goes wherever a bicycle may, bike lanes and shoulders included; on any bikeway or trail it may also be pedaled with the motor off. Motor running, Class 1 and Class 2 are allowed on shared use paths, trails and bike paths unless sections 85.015, 85.018 or 160.263 impose a restriction. Class 3 and multiple mode are allowed there unless whoever manages the path says no.

Agencies running bike parks and dirt trails designated nonmotorized may set their own rules. For sidewalks, the bicycle rule in section 169.222 applies: inside a business district, no sidewalk riding unless the local authority permits it. Minneapolis and other cities post their own sidewalk and path rules.

Over time: labels, cutoffs and modifications

A permanent label, printed at 9 point or larger, must show the class number, the wattage and the top assisted speed. Squeezing the brakes has to kill the motor, and except on Class 2 so must stopping pedaling. Class 3 and multiple mode bikes must carry a speedometer that reads in mph.

Tampering so a bike no longer matches its class is unlawful unless you put on a correct label, or take the e-bike label off altogether when no class fits anymore. Chapter 127 of the 2024 session laws is where the multiple mode class, the lab testing rule for batteries and the dirt trail rule came from.

A different machine: mopeds

Subdivision 45 of section 169.011 describes a motorized bicycle as having a fuel or electric motor no larger than 50 cc, a maximum of two brake horsepower, and a top speed of 30 mph or less. To ride one you hold a driver's license or a motorized bicycle permit under section 171.02. At 15 there are two routes: pass the state exam for an operator's permit, or finish an approved safety course and the written test for an instruction permit.

October 2026 prices: $9.75 for an operator's permit, which lasts until age 21, and $6.75 for the written exam plus a 30 day instruction permit. Anyone under 18 on a moped wears a helmet. Mopeds are barred from sidewalks and from trails set aside for walkers and cyclists, and section 168.013 sets a $6 registration tax.

A different machine: motorized foot scooters

Minnesota law calls a stand-up electric scooter a motorized foot scooter and defines it in section 169.011: handlebars, at most two wheels each 12 inches across or less, and no more than 15 mph. Anything faster does not fit the definition and should not be ridden as if it did.

Section 169.225 lays down the rules. Riders must be 12 or more, and anyone under 18 wears a helmet. Sidewalks are off limits except to get onto or off a property. One rider only. Lights front and rear when lights are required. Stay near the right edge; for a left turn, hop off at the curb and walk across. Bike lanes and paths are allowed unless local rules ban scooters.

A worked example for parents

Picture three siblings aged 11, 13 and 15. The 11 year old can ride only a pedal bike or a non-motorized scooter. The 13 year old can ride a motorized foot scooter with a helmet, on the street or bike lanes, but not an e-bike. The 15 year old can ride any class of e-bike with no license, and could also earn a moped permit; a helmet is required on the moped until 18.