How Fast Do E-Bikes Go? The Average Electric Bike Speed with Examples
When you hop on an e-bike, especially compared to riding a traditional bike, you have the expectation that you’ll ride like the wind. After all, the electric bike has a motor to propel it. Precisely how fast can an e-bike go?
The average speed of an e-bike is between 20 and 28 miles per hour. Some electric bikes can exceed those speeds, but consumer e-bikes don’t go beyond 28 MPH for reasons of safety for the rider and others around them.
If you have questions about e-bike speeds, this guide will present all the answers. I’ll expound further on the average speed of an electric bike, share plenty of real-world examples of e-bike speeds, and discuss why some electric bikes are faster than others.
Let’s get underway!
This Is the Average Speed of an E-Bike
Electric bikes are not lawless vehicles. Since they have motors attached to them, some states require e-bikes to be categorized within the same class as mopeds while others treat them as bicycles.
Since e-bikes aren’t lawless, that means there must be regulations as far as the speed of these bikes is concerned.
That’s why electric bikes only have a set speed.
At the very least, an e-bike can travel through the neighborhood at a speed of 20 MPH.
I wouldn’t say this is overly fast, but it’s not slow by any means either.
The fastest speed that an electric bike can reach is 28 MPH.
This is a nice speed increase compared to the 20-MPH models, which will make a noticeable improvement in your ability to reach Point B from Point A.
You’ll also have a speed advantage over traditional bikes, which is something that e-bikes with top speeds of 20 MPH cannot say.
According to Portland University’s Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC), a traditional bike on a sidewalk can cycle between 2.1 and 18.7 MPH.
In a bike lane, a traditional bike can reach speeds of 2.5 and 25.4 MPH, and on a bike path, between 2.7 and 24.4 MPH.
13 Electric Bike Speed Examples
Are you thinking of purchasing an electric bike, but before you make up your mind, you want to know more about the speed of these bikes?
I’ve put together this comprehensive list of electric bikes and their accompanying speeds to help in your decision-making.
- Aventon Level.2 commuter e-bike – 28 MPH using pedal-assist mode and only 20 MPH using throttle
- Cannondale Treadwell Neo 2 EQ electric bike – 20 MPH
- WTVA Bikes step-thru foldable e-bike – 25 MPH using pure electric mode and 40 MPH using pedal-assisted mode
- INTHEAIR electric bicycle – 20 MPH
- Specialized Como SL – 28 MPH
- Ride1Up Prodigy ST – 28 MPH using pedal-assisted mode
- Denago Commute Model 1 top-tube bike – 28 MPH
- Aventon Aventure e-bike – 28 MPH
- Propella SS – 18.5 MPH
- Aventon Pace 350 step-through e-bike – 20 MPH
- Propella 9S PRO – 20 MPH
- Aventon Soltera step-through e-bike – 20 MPH
- JackRabbit – 20 MPH
The Factors That Influence Electric Bike Speed
Electric bikes, compared to other vehicles, don’t really have much in the way of speed fluctuations.
As I talked about in the section prior, the bike operates at either 20 or 28 MPH.
There were a few outliers per the list above, as some bikes were slower than even 20 MPH and one other, the WTVA Bikes step-through foldable electric bike, could reach speeds of up to 40 MPH.
Those are exceptions and not rules.
What goes into how fast an e-bike operates? Let’s go over the factors at play now.
E-Bike Class
To better regulate electric bikes, across the United States, the bikes are categorized into one of three classes.
Even if all states in the US don’t necessarily have the same e-bike regulations, they do agree on these classes.
First is Class 1. Electric bikes in Class 1 only feature pedal-assisted mode. You cannot use a throttle for extra speed, and these bikes will never go faster than 20 MPH.
A Class 2 e-bike uses a throttle but still does not surpass speeds of 20 MPH.
The third class is the aptly-named Class 3. These bikes don’t have a throttle and use pedal-assist mode but are faster than electric bikes in Classes 1 or 2.
The top speed of a Class 3 e-bike is 28 MPH.
Motor Type
An e-bike can come with all sorts of motors, but some are faster than others. One of these is a mid-drive motor.
Electric bikes with a mid-drive motor feature the motor between the pedals.
If yours was a low-cost or mid-priced model, then it likely does not include a mid-drive model. This type of motor is a trademark of more expensive e-bikes.
After all, a mid-drive motor allows the rider to set their gear speed. Increasing the speed of the mid-drive motor might make your e-bike go moderately faster within its speed limit.
Tire Size
Another factor that goes into the speed of an electric bike is tire size.
E-bike tires come in three sizes: 16 inches, 20 inches, or 26 inches.
If your tires are 16 inches, then you likely have a commuter e-bike for riding around town. Folding electric bikes also use tires of this size, as e-bike tires don’t get smaller than 16 inches.
Very lightweight, 16-inch tires reduce your wheelbase and turning radius, thus increasing your steering sensitivity. Bumpy rides also feel that much bumpier due to reduced impact resistance.
E-bikes with 16-inch tires are not going to be road warriors, likely topping out at around 20 MPH or possibly even slower.
Both folding and non-folding electric bikes use 20-inch bike tires.
Although you’ll still feel the brunt of your physical impacts when riding on 20-inch tires, their average size and ease-of-use mean these tires might produce speed outputs of anywhere from 20 to 28 MPH, although probably the former more than the latter.
The last e-bike tire size is 26 inches. As the most common electric bike tire size, 26-inch tires are usable on a variety of electric bikes.
Suitable for on-roading and off-roading alike with far less physical impact to your body with reach ride, 26-MPH electric bike tires are the most suitable for higher e-bike speeds of up to 28 MPH.
Motor Voltage
Just as electric bikes are equipped with variously-sized bike tires, they have different motor voltages as well.
Perhaps even more so than the type of motor, the voltage of your e-bike motor is a huge determining factor in its speed.
Voltage refers to the motor’s electrical potential in measured volts.
The voltage goes hand in hand with wattage, which is a measure of speed and can influence the horsepower of your e-bike.
The three most common e-bike motor voltages are 36 volts, 48 volts, and 52 volts.
If yours is a 36-volt bike, then it has the least amount of power, which means its speed is the slowest. Some 36-volt e-bikes can only reach speeds of 15 MPH while others bottom out at around 20 MPH.
An e-bike that’s got more voltage still at 48 volts will be able to achieve speeds of 20 MPH without difficulty. Only electric bikes with an upper voltage of 52 volts can top off at 28 MPH.
Can You Make an E-Bike Go Faster?
You weren’t as well-versed on e-bike speeds now as you were when you bought an electric bike some months back.
You really wish yours could go upwards of 28 MPH rather than 20 MPH, as it would help you get to work (or wherever you need to go) even faster.
Are there any ways to improve the speed of your electric bike?
Indeed! Making the following changes might give you a slight speed boost.
Slim Down Your Tires
Thicker e-bike tires aren’t as flexible as thinner ones.
That said, what you trade in thickness when you downsize the diameter of your bike tires, you lose in stability and support, so both have their pros and cons.
Skinnier tires could make you moderately faster on your e-bike though and thus are worth considering.
Rewind Your Motor
Electric bikes feature an armature encapsulated with wires. Since the rewind does determine your bike speed, adjusting it is a way to see a slight speed boost the next time you ride your e-bike.
However, this method comes with many caveats. I want to stress that tinkering with your bike could void your warranty. If the warranty is brand-new, you might want to rethink this method.
Further, if you don’t know what you’re doing when handling the rewind and the armature, then all you’re going to do is make matters worse.
Rather than have a moderately slow e-bike, you’ll have a non-functional bike, which is certainly worse.
The armature connects to the motor, so wrecking one will wreck the other.
If you want to proceed, then you have to open the e-bike’s armature, lessen the rate of rewind, and then your bike will go faster.
By the way, this does come at a price. Since the rewind is working at a setting that it was never intended to, it will use up more electrical current for reach ride.
Oh, and the rewind will generate more heat too.
At the very least, your e-bike battery is going to drain at a much more accelerated rate than in the past. That’s due to the increased voltage.
You’ll spend more time charging your electric bike than you will riding it.
At worst, the increase in heat is going to cause the battery to overheat, and perhaps the engine as well.
If your e-bike battery overheats, it can stop working. You can still pedal your way to your destination, so this admittedly isn’t the worst outcome.
However, the whole reason you rewound the motor to begin with was for more speed, and now any of those speed benefits you won have been lost.
If the engine overheats, then the same thing will happen. Your electric bike motor will power down.
This is a little more detrimental than a dead battery, as it’s not like you can merely recharge the engine. You’d have to take your e-bike to the local mechanic and see what they could do for you.
If you needed to replace your motor, you could spend at the very least several hundred dollars and at most upwards of $2,300 or more.
Watch Your Terrain
The type of terrain as well as its elevation play important roles in the overall speed of your electric bike.
You’re not supposed to hit the throttle when riding uphill. If anything, this is a time to be more reliant on your own physical efforts and use a pedal-assist mode to give you that last little bit of help so you can reach the top of the summit.
If you’re riding on a lot of hilly terrains, then your e-bike might never see its full speed potential.
As much as you can, try riding on flatter terrain. That doesn’t exclusively mean sidewalks and streets but limit your hill riding since you care so much about speed.
Consider the Weather
You can also feel like you’re going faster on your e-bike merely by working with instead of against Mother Nature.
If you’ve ever tried pedaling against the wind on a traditional bike, then you’ll be aware how the task is a fool’s errand.
Even though your e-bike has more HP driving it, it’s still a waste of wattage and battery power to try to force your bike through tough bursts of wind.
Riding with the wind could propel you forward in a more satisfying way than when riding without a motor.
Conclusion
Electric bikes generally have two accepted speeds, 20 or 28 MPH. Per these speeds, e-bikes fit into Class 1, Class 2, or Class 3 requirements as US law requires.
While electric bike laws vary throughout the country, as do classifications of e-bikes as bicycles or mopeds, the speed of e-bikes is consistent to promote user safety as well as the safety of people around the e-bike user.
While you can make small changes to maybe see a slight speed boost in your e-bike, if you really want to go faster, you can always pedal faster!
