Does my e-bike need EN 15194 certification?

EN 15194 is the European standard for electrically power-assisted cycles: pedal-assist e-bikes with a motor rated at no more than 250 W, which helps only while you pedal and stops at 25 km/h. Australia has no recent, comprehensive standard of its own for e-bikes, so governments here borrow it.^[2] At the border, a power-assisted pedal cycle that meets EN 15194 is the kind of e-bike that may be treated as a bicycle; one outside those limits may be a road vehicle that needs approval before it can be imported.^[1]

What the standard actually tests

It is more than a power limit. The NSW Government lists what it covers: safe construction (steering, frame, saddle, wheels), braking performance, motor output (continuous rated power, and assistance that fades as speed rises) and the safety of the electrical system, including the battery, charger and controller, each tested by the standard's own methods.^[2] That is why NSW describes a certified bike as both safer and road-legal.

Where it decides whether your bike is legal

• Western Australia and the Northern Territory: a 250 W bike is legal only if it meets EN 15194. Without it the limit drops to 200 W, so a non-certified 250 W bike is over the limit in both.^[4][5]
• Queensland: the only class is a certified 250 W bike with a compliance label. Non-certified bikes within 250 W and 25 km/h can be ridden until 28 February 2027; after that they need a Legacy EPAC label from an authorised verifier, which only eligible bikes made before 1 July 2026 can get.^[3]
• New South Wales: the 250 W class is already defined by EN 15194, but the 500 W class needs no certificate today. Under the announced plan every e-bike must meet the standard from 1 March 2029.^[2]

Where it isn't required, and still helps

Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Australian Capital Territory describe the 250 W bike by its limits (250 W continuous, help only while pedalling, nothing above 25 km/h) without making certification part of the definition.^[6][7][8][9] A non-certified bike that meets every limit is legal there, and our rule checker says so. The certificate is still the simplest way to show the bike meets those limits, and a certified bike stays legal if you move interstate.

How to check a bike

• Look for a mark on the bike showing it meets the standard, or ask the retailer, as the NSW Government suggests.^[2] In Queensland the compliance label is what police look for.^[3]
• Read the seller's product page. We record a bike as certified only when its page, or a document it links to, names EN 15194 for that model: 15 of the 22 bikes we list do.
• Don't confuse it with NSW Fair Trading's approval mark. Since 1 February 2026, e-bikes and batteries sold in NSW must be tested, certified and marked under product-safety rules.^[2] That mark is about the product being safe to sell, not about whether the bike fits a road-legal class.
• Be wary of a bike that claims certification and also has a throttle that works above 6 km/h, a race mode, or a motor rated over 250 W. None of those fits the limits the standard sets.^[1]

If your bike isn't certified

The answer depends on where you ride. In Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT it is legal if it meets the limits. In WA and the NT a 250 W bike without the certificate is over the limit. In Queensland it is legal until 28 February 2027, then needs a Legacy EPAC label if it is eligible.^[3] In NSW it is legal until the planned change on 1 March 2029.^[2]

Not sure whether yours is certified? Answer "not sure" in the rule checker: it shows which states that changes, so you know where the paperwork matters before you ride.