🇳🇱 Riding laws in the Netherlands
Pedal-assist e-bikes up to 25 km/h need no licence, plate or insurance, but a privately owned e-scooter is only road-legal if the model has RDW approval and its own number plate, which rules out most models on sale. Speed pedelecs and mopeds need a plate, insurance, an AM licence and a helmet.
Checked 9 Nov 2026. This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice.
Electric scooters
Stand-up e-scooters (personal light electric vehicles).
| Status | Allowed on public roads |
|---|---|
| Speed limit | 25 km/h (16 mph) |
| Power limit | 1,000 W rated |
| Minimum age | 16 |
| Helmet | Not required |
| Insurance | Yes |
| Plate or sticker | Yes |
| Licence | Not required for adults |
| Approval | RDW national type approval |
| Where to ride | Use the cycle path or cycle/moped path, or the road where neither exists; never the pavement. |
| Notes | E-scooters count as special mopeds (bijzondere bromfiets). Since 1 July 2025 new e-scooters need a plate (small, blue, starting with E), and since 1 July 2026 every e-scooter on the road must have one. Only around ten models are on the RDW approved list (Nov 2026); most popular imports cannot be registered, and police can fine you or seize the scooter. Kick-assist scooters (up to 250 W, assist only while you kick, no throttle) follow e-bike rules. A helmet requirement for under-18s is planned from 1 September 2027 but is not yet law. |
Pedal-assist e-bikes (EPAC)
Motor helps only while you pedal, up to 25 km/h and 250 W rated power.
| Status | Allowed on public roads |
|---|---|
| Speed limit | 25 km/h (16 mph) |
| Power limit | 250 W rated |
| Helmet | Not required |
| Insurance | No |
| Plate or sticker | No |
| Licence | Not required for adults |
| Where to ride | Use the cycle path or cycle/moped path, or the road where neither exists; never the pavement. |
| Notes | No minimum age today. Fatbikes are legally ordinary e-bikes if they stay within 25 km/h and 250 W with no throttle above 6 km/h; a throttle or tuned bike is an unregistered moped (€320 fine, seizure and destruction for repeat offences, and no insurance cover). Enschede bans fatbikes from its centre during shopping hours and Amsterdam has banned them in the Vondelpark since 11 May 2026. Planned, not yet law: a helmet requirement for riders and passengers under 18 on all e-bikes and light electric vehicles, targeted for 1 September 2027; a legal fatbike definition with powers for fatbike-free zones; and a fatbike minimum age, still under study (a law change takes 2 to 2.5 years). |
Speed pedelecs
Pedal assist up to 45 km/h, type-approved as L1e-B.
| Status | Allowed under moped or motorcycle rules |
|---|---|
| Speed limit | 45 km/h (28 mph) |
| Power limit | 4,000 W rated |
| Minimum age | 16 |
| Helmet | Required |
| Insurance | Yes |
| Plate or sticker | Yes |
| Licence | AM (a Dutch B or A licence also covers it) |
| Approval | EU type approval |
| Where to ride | Use the cycle/moped path where there is one, otherwise the road; never cycle-only paths or the pavement. |
| Notes | Treated as a moped with a yellow moped plate. Limits are 30 km/h on cycle/moped paths in built-up areas, 40 km/h on them outside, and 45 km/h on the road. An approved moped helmet or a speed-pedelec helmet (NTA 8776) is allowed. A left mirror is required. |
Mopeds and light e-motos
Up to 45 km/h: e-mopeds, throttle e-bikes and approved light e-motos.
| Status | Allowed under moped or motorcycle rules |
|---|---|
| Speed limit | 45 km/h (28 mph) |
| Power limit | 4,000 W rated |
| Minimum age | 16 |
| Helmet | Required |
| Insurance | Yes |
| Plate or sticker | Yes |
| Licence | AM (a Dutch B or A licence also covers it) |
| Approval | EU type approval |
| Where to ride | Bromfiets (45 km/h) on the cycle/moped path where there is one, otherwise the road; snorfiets (25 km/h) on the cycle path. Never on the pavement. |
| Notes | Two classes. A snorfiets is limited to 25 km/h, has a blue plate and has needed a helmet since 1 January 2023; Amsterdam and Utrecht have local rules that put snorfietsen on the road in places. A bromfiets is limited to 45 km/h (30 km/h on cycle/moped paths in built-up areas, 40 km/h outside) and has a yellow plate; a speed-pedelec helmet is not allowed on it. An e-bike with a throttle working above 6 km/h without pedalling is a moped and needs approval and a plate; otherwise it may not be ridden. |
Motorcycles
Faster electric motorbikes, such as L3e-A1 models.
| Status | Allowed under moped or motorcycle rules |
|---|---|
| Minimum age | 18 |
| Helmet | Required |
| Insurance | Yes |
| Plate or sticker | Yes |
| Licence | A1 up to 11 kW (from 18), A2 up to 35 kW, A above that |
| Approval | EU type approval |
| Where to ride | On the road, including motorways; never on cycle paths or cycle/moped paths. |
| Notes | Figures are for the A1 class. A1 covers up to 125 cc and 11 kW (electric motors too) with no more than 0.1 kW per kg, from age 18. A car licence (B) does not cover motorcycles in the Netherlands. |
Models we cover, as sold
Official sources
- https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/voertuigen-op-de-weg/bijzondere-bromfiets/elektrische-step
- https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/actueel/nieuws/2025/04/24/per-1-juli-introductie-kenteken-voor-bijzondere-bromfiets-zoals-e-step
- https://www.rdw.nl/keuren/kenteken-aanvragen-voor-uw-bijzondere-bromfiets
- https://www.rdw.nl/keuren/kenteken-aanvragen-voor-uw-bijzondere-bromfiets/e-steps
- https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0025798/
- https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0004825/
- https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/fiets/vraag-en-antwoord/welke-regels-gelden-voor-mijn-elektrische-fiets-e-bike
- https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/actueel/nieuws/2026/04/24/kabinet-presenteert-aanpak-fatbikes
- https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/kst-29398-1220.html
- https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/themas/verkeer-en-vervoer/fiets/plan-kabinet-helmplicht-fatbikes-jongeren-tot-18
- https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/themas/verkeer-en-vervoer/voertuigen-op-de-weg/bromfiets/speed-pedelec
- https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/voertuigen-op-de-weg/bromfiets/brommer
- https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/voertuigen-op-de-weg/bromfiets/snorfiets
- https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/verkeersveiligheid/veilig-rijden-op-de-brommer
- https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/stb-2022-270.html
- https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/rijbewijs/vraag-en-antwoord/voor-welke-soorten-bromfietsen-heb-ik-een-bromfietsrijbewijs-brommerrijbewijs-nodig
- https://www.rdw.nl/het-rijbewijs/over-het-rijbewijs/rijbewijscategorieen
- https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/vraag-en-antwoord/rijbewijs/rijbewijs-motor