An electric bicycle (e-bike, eBike, etc.) is a motorized bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fall into two broad categories: bikes that assist the rider's pedal-power (i.e. pedelecs) and bikes that add a throttle, integrating moped-style functionality. Both retain the ability to be pedaled by the rider and are therefore not electric motorcycles. E-bikes use rechargeable batteries and typically are motor-powered up to . High-powered varieties can often travel more than . E-bike use is growing in some markets, as they are seen as an eco-friendly and healthy alternative to cars, fossil fuel-powered mopeds and small motorcycles, and a less physically intense alternative to conventional bicycles. Depending on local laws, many e-bikes (e.g., pedelecs) are legally classified as bicycles rather than mopeds or motorcycles. This exempts them from the more stringent laws regarding the certification and operation of more powerful two-wheelers which are often classed as electric motorcycles, such as licensing and mandatory safety equipment. E-bikes can also be defined separately and treated under distinct electric bicycle laws. In UK legislation the vehicles are called electrically assisted pedal cycles (EAPC), in EU legislation electrically power assisted cycles (EPAC). History In the 1890s, electric bicycles were documented within various U.S. patents. For example, on 31 December 1895, Ogden Bolton Jr. was granted for a battery-powered bicycle with "6-pole brush-and-commutator direct current (DC) hub motor mounted in the rear wheel". There were no gears and the motor could draw up to 100 amperes from a 10-volt battery. Two years later, in 1897, Hosea W. Libbey of Boston invented an electric bicycle () that was propelled by a "double electric motor". The motor was designed within the hub of the crankset axle. This model was later re-invented and imitated in the late 1990s by Giant Lafree e-bikes. By 1898 a rear-wheel drive electric bicycle, which used a driving belt along the outside edge of the wheel, was patented by Mathew J. Steffens. Also, the 1899 by John Schnepf depicted a rear-wheel friction "roller-wheel" style drive electric bicycle. Schnepf's invention was later re-examined and expanded in 1969 by G. A. Wood Jr. with his . Wood's device used four fractional horsepower motors connected through a series of gears. Torque sensors and power controls were developed in the late 1990s. For example, Takada Yutky of Japan filed a patent in 1997