For 10 years, Charlie Liebl could see with only one eye.
A cataract kept the now 80-year-old Florence resident from getting a driver’s license, making a bicycle his primary mode of transportation. Three years ago, he upgraded to an electric bike and has since logged about 6,000 miles, while making regular trips to the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Leeds with ease.
“It’s a chore getting up there on an old bike,” Liebl said recently after stopping at an ATM in downtown Northampton. “But on an e-bike, it’s easy.”
Liebl is among a growing number of western Massachusetts residents embracing electric bicycles for transportation, exercise and recreation. As sales have surged, however, concerns about speeding, rider etiquette and battery safety have prompted Gov. Maura Healey and state lawmakers to push for the first comprehensive statewide regulations governing e-bikes, scooters and other micromobility devices.
The state has seen an annual 23% increase in injuries related to e-bike use since 2017, according to figures compiled in a January report released by the state’s Special Commission on Micromobility.
Using recommendations from the report, Healey’s proposed “Ride Safe Act,” filed in May, would establish a statewide framework regulating micromobility devices.
By regulating e-bikes based on top speed rather than device type, the bill aims to reduce crashes, improve safety for riders and pedestrians and give cities and towns consistent rules for devices that have rapidly evolved beyond existing state law.
Democratic House leaders have since incorporated similar provisions into a broader economic development package unveiled this week.
Currently, e-bike riders have the same rights as traditional bike users and do not need a driver’s license or inspections, although state law does not permit e-bikes to be driven on sidewalks unless permitted by local ordinance.
When e-bikes first appeared in western Massachusetts about 15 years ago, local bike shops struggled to sell even one. Today, retailers say they’re one of the fastest-growing segments of the bicycle market, a trend reflected nationally. According to the website Diesel E-bikes, the United States imported about 1.7 million e-bikes in 2024, up from nearly 1 million in 2023, a 70% jump.
Leila Everett, manager of Northampton Bicycle, and Robert Nuttelman, owner of Quadrini Electric Bicycles in Florence, said many customers are buying e-bikes to replace cars. Others are returning to cycling after injuries, illness or age made riding a traditional bicycle more difficult.
Everett said customers often tell her: “Your e-bike gave me my life back — I can now ride with my husband, I can ride with my wife, I can ride with my friends, I can make it up that hill that I couldn’t because of an injury, aging or illness.”
“It’s really amazing what they’ve done for a lot of people,” Nuttelman said. “What they’ve really done for a lot of couples is where one person in the couple is very athletic and the other is not, this levels the field, and they can go for a bike ride together and not annoy one another.”
As e-bikes become more common, however, concerns about safety are rising.
“You get the bad actors that want to ride down the bike path at 30 miles an hour on a 100-pound bike, and that’s not cool,” Nuttelman said.
“If you’re on a small multiuse path, it’s just dangerous for everyone else around you — especially if you’re not willing to slow down to pass people,” Everett said. “There should be an etiquette involved, and just some common sense, some like decency which we lose more and more of every day.”
Faster bikes, greater concerns
“There’s a lot of motorcycles in disguise,” Nuttelman said, referring to some high-powered e-bikes on the market.
Massachusetts recognizes three classes of e-bikes. Class 1 bikes provide pedal assistance up to 20 mph. Class 2 bikes also assist riders up to 20 mph but include a throttle that allows riders to travel without pedaling. Class 3 bikes provide pedal assistance up to 28 mph and also may include a throttle.
For comparison, Nuttelman said 28 mph is roughly the speed of a traditional bicycle traveling downhill. Everett said some riders modify their bikes to go even faster.
“They’re a piece of electronics, so you can reprogram them,” she said. “People break into them and make them go faster.”
Because of this, Nuttelman said he refuses to sell throttle-equipped models. He believes future regulations will strictly restrict them and wants to avoid the liability associated with higher speeds.
“We’ll get phone calls from people saying, ‘how fast will the bike go and do I have to pedal?’ Well, that’s not really the customer I’m looking for,” he said. “That’s a customer that probably lost their license because they were misbehaving, and that’s how you know this is their transportation — they’re looking for a motorcycle that isn’t a motorcycle.”
Nuttelman also warned consumers to be cautious of high-powered models sold online.
“My son-in-law called me and he said, ‘Hey, my son wants this,'” Nuttelman recalled. “I said to him, ‘Why don’t you buy him a Ducati motorcycle?'”
When his son-in-law questioned the comparison, Nuttelman said he explained that the e-bike accelerated from 0 to 30 mph faster than a Ducati.
In Europe, he said, electric bicycles are generally limited to 250-watt motors. Some models sold in the United States exceed 1,000 watts.
“They’re extremely dangerous because people don’t understand how much power that is,” Nuttelman said.
“Europe has it right,” he added. “In Europe throttles are not legal, they’re pedal assist only.”
Bikes on fire
Speed is not the only concern surrounding e-bikes. Lithium-ion batteries have been linked to house fires, although local retailers said most are preventable and stem from user error rather than defects in the bikes themselves.
Since late 2023, more than 170 fires have been linked to lithium-ion batteries, according to the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services, with several occurring locally.
In September, the Olympia Oaks duplex in Amherst burned down as a result of an e-bike’s lithium-ion battery, displacing six residents. Last March, a house fire in Holyoke was also sparked by a battery fire, which led the state to issue a public safety alert.
Damaged, defective or recalled batteries are to blame for the surge in incidents, according to the Department of Fire Services.
“Always read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions, use the manufacturers charging equipment and disconnect it when the device is fully charged,” said Holyoke Fire Chief John Kadlewicz. “Aftermarket accessories and overcharged batteries have been linked to serious fires.”
Nuttelman said one of the most common mistakes is replacing a broken charger with an incompatible model instead of the manufacturer’s charger. Another is continuing to use a damaged battery after it has been dropped.
“If you took your battery out of your car and dropped it on the sidewalk and it’s cracked, what would you do?” Nuttelman said. “Would you put it in the car and keep using it? No.”
Nuttelman said e-bikes often get a “black eye” because fires involving scooters and hoverboards are frequently blamed on all lithium-ion devices. Those batteries, he said, are mounted closer to the ground and are more likely to be damaged than batteries used on most e-bikes.
Buying smart
Nuttelman said the e-bike industry’s growth has been dramatic during his 14 years in the business.
“I remember going to these trade shows where we’d have a booth with these bikes out. I’d ask people if they ever rode an electric bike, and 95% of the people said no, and now 95% of the people say yes,” he said.
Everett said Northampton Bicycle sold only about one e-bike a few years ago. Today, the shop sells more than 100 annually.
She attributed the growth to lower prices — bikes selling for $7,000 a decade ago now go for $1,500 — improved efficiency and lighter designs.
“Every year they’re going to become lighter, every year they’re going to be more efficient, and the prices are going to come down,” Everett said. “As the products get better, the prices are going to come down.”
For potential buyers, both retailers offered the same advice: Know who will service the bike. Everett and Nuttelman said many e-bikes purchased online or through large retailers come with limited repair options, and their shops do not service bikes purchased from unsupported sources.
“Oh, you got it off the internet? Best of luck,” Everett tells customers seeking repairs for bikes purchased online.
“When it breaks, the only thing they can do is send an email to the company, and they hope that the email gets answered,” Nuttelman said. “It’s like buying a car with no place to fix it.”
“The biggest thing you’re paying for is the electronics on one of these bikes, and so making sure that you have somebody who will service it is important to make sure that it doesn’t just land in the landfill,” Everett said.
The retailers said e-bikes are attracting riders of all ages.
“I always thought my customer was going to be 60 years and older, but it’s really every age bracket,” Nuttelman said.
Users’ takes
Several e-bike riders across the region said the key to sharing roads and bike paths is simple: Be aware of others and use common sense.
At 75, Bruce Volz said he rides more often than he did before upgrading to an e-bike. The hills of Westhampton, he said, were the reason he switched from a traditional bicycle.
“The hills were getting a little discouraging, that’s what prompted me to get this guy,” he said while riding his bike, which has small screens displaying travel statistics.
Volz acknowledged that etiquette can be a problem among some e-bike riders.
“I got a bell so that if I’m coming up on somebody, I try to let them know,” he said. “If somebody is going 20, 25 mph it’s a little upsetting if somebody just zips by you. I’ve seen people that were riding pretty seemingly oblivious to everything else going on.”
Florence resident Darlene Guditis uses an electric tricycle to run errands, with a cooler attachment connected to the back. Her recent trips included picking up canned goods from Walmart and taking advantage of a ground beef sale at Big Y. At 73, it is her only mode of transportation.
Guditis said she takes it slow and rides cautiously.
Joe Bazzano, a teacher in Great Barrington, rides his e-bike to work to avoid arriving sweaty. His commute includes about 1,000 feet of elevation change, making the electric assist especially useful.
“It’s a game-changer,” he said.
But Bazzano also recognizes the risks. A friend was struck by a car shortly after buying an e-bike.
“He wasn’t an avid rider, but having an e-bike he started getting out and he was cruising at 20 mph, and it was just too much,” Bazzano said.
