Considering that travel-focused companies like Thule make bicycle carriers, it’s obvious that flying with a bike is a thing. But what about flying with an e-bike? When checking luggage, airline agents ask about lithium ion batteries and TSA asks about them as well when we move through security.
Policies on flying with a bike vary from airline to airline. Most consider a bike in a carrier to be oversize, which results in a charge that can run from as little as $35 up to more than $200, per leg.
While the charges for bikes can seem arbitrary and maybe even capricious, flying with an e-bike is a different matter entirely. Because e-bikes use lithium-ion batteries, the transportation of those batteries is governed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The FAA has placed strict limits on the size of lithium-ion batteries permitted on planes, both in carry-on and checked luggage.
The maximum permissible size for a lithium-ion battery is 100Wh. The specific language can be found in the Code for Federal Regulations under § 173.185 (1,i).
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The battery doesn’t have to fly
That’s not the end of the story, though. While you can’t fly with that 500Wh battery, with sufficient pre-planning, it’s still possible to fly with your e-bike. The trick is to ship the battery ahead via a ground service such as UPS or FedEx Ground.
Both UPS and FedEx ground offer guides on how to ship lithium-ion batteries. The regulations governing lithium-ion batteries are defined by its UN hazardous materials number, 3480. The UPS guide can be found here, while the FedEx guide can be found here. FedEx offers additional guidance here.
The hurdle most e-bike owners will face is proper packaging for the lithium-ion battery. The guidelines published by both UPS and FedEx give detailed instructions about the packing requirements.
For anyone who has considered purchasing a spare battery for their e-bike, this would serve as a terrific occasion to make that purchase. Because a ground shipping service may take up to seven business days to deliver that battery to your destination, having a spare battery will allow you to continue riding until it’s time to pack your e-bike for travel.
Here’s what’s especially helpful about purchasing a spare battery: When the new battery is shipped to you, it will be shipped in exactly the sort of packaging you’d want to use to ship the battery to your destination.
If purchasing an extra battery isn’t in the budget, the packaging company Uline makes dedicated lithium-ion battery shipping containers.
Should I ship the whole e-bike?
There are pros and cons to shipping your e-bike via a service such as UPS Ground. One benefit is that not flying with a bike is easier when it comes to getting to and from the airport. A big con is that shipping an e-bike is expensive, more expensive than shipping a regular bike.
The expense is greater for two reasons. First, e-bikes weigh three to four times as much as a regular bike. Second, e-bikes can’t usually be disassembled to the degree that a regular bike can, so they wind up being shipped in boxes that are bigger than standard bike boxes.
A bigger, heavier box is a double-whammy for expense, but you can definitely ship an e-bike to your destination.
Another pro for shipping your e-bike is that if an airline damages your e-bike in transit, they may not compensate you to your satisfaction. If a shipping company damages your e-bike, they have a claims process backed by user-purchasable insurance.
We’re not finished with the reasons to consider shipping your e-bike to your destination. All that discussion earlier about packing your battery for shipping? If you ship your e-bike, the battery will ship in your e-bike, with a couple of conditions.
1. Lower your battery charge to less than 30% to limit cell-to-cell combustion. 2. Power off your battery, remove any keys, and ensure that your battery cannot turn “on” during transit. 3. Protect your e-bike and its battery by using lots of extra-dense foam padding. 4. Pack your e-bike into a large and sturdy box rated for e-bikes such as the Bikeflights Bike Box Large (BBL). 5. Completely remove or completely cover ALL bulk shipping hazmat markings like these:
While this may not be the answer that most readers were expecting, we believe one of the easiest solutions may be to use the service Bike Flights. Their entire business is based on shipping bikes. They have negotiated rates with the big shipping companies and help streamline the process for users.
One word of caution: Shipping an e-bike is easiest when your destination is within the contiguous 48 U.S. states.
Traveling with an e-bike may not be easy, but it’s possible with a bit of advanced planning. And there’s nothing like seeing a place from the saddle of an e-bike.
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