Get ready – California’s electric bicycle driver’s license bill is here
Electric bike riders in California who don’t already hold a traditional car driver’s license may soon have a new option (or requirement) on their hands: an electric bike license.
California Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner introduced the new bill just before the weekend, designed to help provide more safety and structure around young or unlicensed e-bike riders in the state.
The bill would ban children under age 12 from riding electric bikes. Any riders who are at least 12 but don’t have a car driver’s license would be required to complete an online course, pass a written test, and get a state ID to legally operate an electric bicycle.
The proposed legislation comes in response to a significant increase in the number of young e-bike riders. Often in their teens, these new e-bike riders have flocked to electric bikes as an efficient and fun form of getting to school or meeting up with friends, securing themselves transportation independence from their parents and public transit.
“E-bikes provide that sense of freedom that so many school-aged kids and Californians are looking for,” explained Congresswoman Boerner during a press conference at Earl Warren Middle School. “But it’s crucial that we ensure that they know how to ride using the rules of our roads and make safe and smart decisions when sharing the roads with cars and pedestrians.”
The increased number of young riders, especially those that have shown either ignorance of or disregard for traffic laws, has become a major issue in many California towns.
This isn’t the first time California has flirted with the idea of instituting a driver’s license specifically for e-bike riders. The same concept was floated last year but failed to make it out of the assembly.
An electric bicycle license is not unheard of in the Western world, with some countries already instituting special training programs for e-bike riders who haven’t yet received – or are not interested in getting – a car driver’s license.
Electrek’s Take
I don’t see anything wrong with this, as long as it is instituted in a fair way that doesn’t put an undue burden on riders. If you’re using the road, you need to be aware of the road rules. Just because you’ve got two wheels doesn’t mean you don’t mix with traffic.
That being said, I hope that for every dollar of public funding that goes into giving kids e-bike licenses, two dollars gets put into encouraging more kids to ride e-bikes. Nothing I’ve seen in my entire life of being a kid or an adult has gotten more children off the couch and outside than electric bikes. Electric bikes have also become one of the single most effective tools for decreasing urban transportation emissions as well as reducing congestion in cities. Every electric car driver that pats themselves on the back for being green should give a standing ovation to each e-bike rider they see – that’s the order of magnitude difference e-bikes create when it comes to their impact on cities.
So fine, let’s make everyone safer and ensure young e-bike riders are properly trained with regard to road rules. But let’s also just make sure they’re out there in the first place.
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First Solar just cut the ribbon on a huge new factory in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, and it dwarfs the New Orleans Superdome. The company’s $1.1 billion, fully vertically integrated facility spans 2.4 million square feet, or about 11 times the size of the stadium’s main arena.
The factory began production quietly in July, a few months ahead of schedule, and employs more than 700 people. First Solar expects that number to hit 826 by the end of the year. Once it’s fully online, the site will add 3.5 GW of annual manufacturing capacity. That brings the company’s total US footprint to 14 GW in 2026 and 17.7 GW in 2027, when its newly announced South Carolina plant is anticipated to come online.
The Louisiana plant produces First Solar’s Series 7 modules using US-made materials — glass from Illinois and Ohio, and steel from Mississippi, which is fabricated into backrails in Louisiana.
The new factory leans heavily on AI, from computer vision that spots defects on the line to deep learning tools that help technicians make real‑time adjustments.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry says the investment is already a win for the region, bringing in “hundreds of good-paying jobs and new opportunities for Louisiana workers and businesses.” A new economic impact analysis from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette projects that the factory will boost Iberia Parish’s GDP by 4.4% in its first full year at capacity. The average manufacturing compensation package comes in at around $90,000, more than triple the parish’s per capita income.
First Solar CEO Mark Widmar framed the new facility as a major step for US clean energy manufacturing: “By competitively producing energy technology in America with American materials, while creating American jobs, we’re demonstrating that US reindustrialization isn’t just a thesis, it’s an operating reality.”
This site joins what’s already the largest solar manufacturing and R&D footprint in the Western Hemisphere: three factories in Ohio, one in Alabama, and R&D centers in Ohio and California. Just last week, First Solar announced a new production line in Gaffney, South Carolina, to onshore more Series 6 module work. By the end of 2026, the company expects to directly employ more than 5,500 people across the US.
Read more: First Solar pours $330M into a new South Carolina solar factory
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No, it’s not the new Bolt. GM’s design team previewed a new high-riding “sporty Chevrolet EV” that should be brought to life.
Is Chevy launching a new sporty EV?
This is the all-electric vehicle Chevy should sell in the US. General Motors’ design team released a series of sketches previewing a sporty new Chevy EV.
Although it kinda looks like the new 2027 Chevy Bolt EV as a higher-sitting compact crossover SUV, the design offers a fresh take on what it should have looked like.
The new Bolt is essentially a modernized version of the outgoing EUV model with a similar compact crossover silhouette. Nissan adopted a similar style with the new 2026 LEAF as buyers continue shifting from smaller sedans and hatchbacks to crossovers and SUVs.
Will we see the sporty Chevy EV in real life? It’s not likely. For one, the “exploration sketch” is by GM China Advanced designer Charles Huang.
GM Design posted the sketches on its global social media page, but the caption read “Sporty Chevrolet EV for the China Market.”
It’s too bad. The Bolt could use a sporty sibling like an SS variant. Chevy introduced the Blazer EV SS (check out our review) for the 2026 model year, its fastest “SS” model yet. Packing up to 615 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque, the Chevy Blazer SS can race from 0 to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds when using Wide Open Watts (WOW) mode.
Will the Bolt be next? I wouldn’t get my hopes up. And if GM does bring the sporty Chevy EV to life, it will likely only be sold in China. Like all the fun cars these days.
What do you think of the design? Would you buy one of these in the US? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
While deliveries of the 2027 Bolt are set to begin in early 2026, Chevy is offering some sweet deals on its current EV lineup, including up to $4,000 off in Customer Cash and 0% APR financing for 60 months.
Ready to test drive one? You can use our links below to find Chevy Equinox, Blazer, and Silverado EVs at a dealership near you.
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Environment
Podcast: Electricity is the base currency, Tesla Robotaxi crashes, new Porsche Cayenne EV, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss electricity becoming the base currency, Tesla Robotaxi crashes, the new Porsche Cayenne EV, and more.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
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Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
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