electric bike

noun

variants or e-bike

ˈē-ˌbīk 

or electric bicycle

plural electric bikes or e-bikes or electric bicycles

: a bicycle equipped with an electric motor that may be activated in order to assist with or replace pedaling

Just like any bike, electric bikes come with a ton of different technical specs that you may or may not care about.

—Adrienne So

For many years, e-bikes carried the stigma of being vehicles for lazy pedalers and seniors. The bikes draw power from a battery and motor to make pedaling significantly easier. You can also accelerate with the press of a button, transforming cycling from a strenuous exercise into a joy ride.

—Brian X. Chen

Examples of electric bike in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The shooter, who wore a jacket, face mask and large backpack, fled through Midtown on foot before pedaling an electric bike into Central Park a few blocks away, police said. —Jake Offenhartz, TIME, 4 Dec. 2024

Jenkins departed Amazon in late September to become technology chief of electric bike and scooter startup Lime, according to his LinkedIn page. —Annie Palmer,katie Tarasov, CNBC, 5 Oct. 2024

Passive regenerative braking on electric bikes has been around for years. —Roberto Baldwin, WIRED, 24 Sep. 2024

In the evolving world of electric bikes, reliability and quality are key to enhancing the riding experience. —New Atlas, 17 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1881, in the meaning defined above