Altor guide · 2026-10-04

E-bike battery shipping rules 2026: the bike, the spare, and the station

The import container holds finished bikes, spare packs, and portable power stations. Someone searches e-bike battery shipping rules 2026 because one lithium template covered all three last year.

What the regulation actually requires

49 CFR 173.22 leaves classification, description, packaging, marks, and labels with the person who offers the material. The air list is IATA DGR Section 4.2. Sign against the edition in force.

A lithium ion e-bike offered by air is UN 3556, Vehicle, lithium ion battery powered, packing instruction 952. The ICAO transition that still allowed UN 3171 on the air document ended 31 March 2025. The local Table 3-1 extract has no UN 3556 row, so the extract's passenger and cargo quantity for UN 3171 does not transfer onto this vehicle. The quantity is the one in the current packing instruction 952. Open the current list for any state variation on UN 3556. If the edition names that vehicle differently, sign that name. Since 1 January 2026, packing instruction 952 requires a state of charge condition for a UN 3556 battery over 100 Wh: not more than 30 percent of rated capacity, or an indicated battery capacity not exceeding 25 percent.

The extract still prints UN 3171 Battery-powered vehicle as Class 9, no packing group, packing instruction 952, passenger and cargo quantity no limit, E0, the ordinary Class 9 diamond, special provisions A67 A87 A94 A154 A164 A214, and no state variation on the row. Battery-powered equipment is a second UN 3171 row with the same instruction and quantities plus A182. Neither extract row is the 2026 air line for a lithium ion bike or a lithium ion power station.

Lithium ion batteries shipped alone, including lithium ion polymer batteries, are UN 3480, Class 9, no packing group. Passenger aircraft is forbidden. Cargo aircraft shows packing instruction 965, and the cargo maximum cell is blank, so the quantity comes from inside that instruction. Excepted quantity is E0. State variation US 3 is listed. 49 CFR 172.102 special provision A100 caps a US air offer of those packs at 30 percent of rated capacity. Above that, only the Associate Administrator approval under 49 CFR part 107 subpart H. That approval is not Altor's.

UN 3481 packed with equipment is packing instruction 966, 5 kg passenger and 35 kg cargo. Contained in equipment is packing instruction 967 at the same masses. E0 and US 3 sit on both rows. Contained in equipment carries special provisions A48 and A220. The packed with row does not. The 67th Edition of the IATA DGR, effective 1 January 2026, made the 30 percent state of charge limit mandatory for certain UN 3481 packed with equipment consignments under packing instruction 966. Section I requires the limit. Section II requires it when the cell or battery is over 2.7 Wh. Read packing instruction 967 on its own. The 966 sentence does not move onto a 967 line unless 967 requires it.

The 2026 lithium air change is at https://altor.consulting/lithium-2026.html.

IATA DGR 8.1 is the air declaration. Sign under IATA DGR 8.1.6.12 and 49 CFR 172.204. 49 CFR 172.204(c)(3) adds one sentence: the shipper declares that all applicable air transport requirements have been met. It does not add a state of charge statement. The 49 CFR 172.101 table assigns A100 to UN 3480, with 388, 422, and A54. Neither UN 3481 row carries A100. Those rows list 181, 360, 388, 422, and A54. Keep A100 on the UN 3480 line. Open US 3 in IATA DGR 2.8 on the UN 3480 and UN 3481 rows.

PHMSA has proposed aligning more of the US table with the air charge limit. A proposal is not an air clearance.

The mistake people make

They treat the bike, the spare, and the packs as one line. Installed lithium ion battery and no spare is the UN 3556 vehicle question, packing instruction 952. The spare beside it is packing instruction 966. Packs with no bike are UN 3480. An old UN 3171 quantity gets written onto the spare.

A portable power station does not inherit the bike line. Installed battery in the station is UN 3481, packing instruction 967. Packed beside the station is packing instruction 966. Packs alone are UN 3480.

On September 5, 2025 the FAA proposed a $74,250 civil penalty against Mokwheel Bikes of Ontario, California. The allegation is a December 26, 2023 offer of lithium ion batteries to UPS air from Ontario to Shenzhen with no declaration, found in Anchorage.

E-bike battery shipping rules 2026: split the offer before you sign

Rebuild each line from a blank against the current IATA DGR Section 4.2 list. Each line matches its own package.

Installed lithium ion battery, no spare: UN 3556, packing instruction 952, quantity from the current instruction. If the battery is over 100 Wh, apply the packing instruction 952 charge condition. If the edition names that vehicle differently, sign that name and leave the spare off it.

Spare in the outer packaging with the bike or the station: UN 3481, packing instruction 966, 5 kg passenger, 35 kg cargo. Apply the 30 percent condition the current 966 text requires, including the Section I and Section II split at 2.7 Wh.

Packs alone: UN 3480, cargo aircraft only, packing instruction 965, quantity from inside that instruction, state of charge not more than 30 percent of rated capacity unless the A100 approval is in the file.

Battery contained in the station, no loose spare: UN 3481, packing instruction 967, same 5 kg and 35 kg. Borrow a 966 charge sentence only when 967 requires it.

Walk the marks in IATA DGR 9.1.3 order, then sign under 49 CFR 172.204 and IATA DGR 8.1.6.12.

Altor pre-checks a completed Dangerous Goods Declaration line by line against the current regulations and returns a written report, with every finding cited, typically within one business day of payment. You keep the pen. altor.consulting

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