Originally Posted by
GlennR
A E-Bike that does 30mph is a motorcycle and should require insurance and be registered.
I tend to agree. It's not much different from a Tesla motorcycle. Both are electrically powered, just one is a lot more powerful than the other. But I think this probably tends to be a legal grey area in most states. In my state, gasoline powered cycles are allowed on public roads without requiring registration as long as the size of the engine is 50cc or less (as long as you're not in a class C city or larger)*. I don't know that it says anything at all about electric powered motorcycles or bicycles since the technology has moved forward faster than the laws have been able to keep up.
But the real problem is that you have to define what is or isn't an electric-powered motorcycle. An E-assist bike could technically fall into this category unless you spell out specifically in the law what type of bike you're legislating.
*There was a big issue with this in the city I worked for about 10-15 years ago when those small 49cc motorcycles from China became all the rage. People were riding them all over town before the PD started cracking down on them due to this part of the law.