Without this bill, a Surron-like eMoto is either a motorcycle with insurance and full registration requirements
I wish. Since the Surron and its ilk lack street legal VINs and also EPA certification (which is nonsensical, I know), most states simply refuse to allow you to plate them or operate them on public roads regardless of whether or not you’re willing to treat it as a motorcycle with insurance and a license, etc. Certainly on a Federal level and probably in most/all states, they’re not actually legally motorcycles.
But all 50 states will still blithely let you register a 49cc two stroke scooter and you can go belching blue smoke down the road at 23 MPH just as you please.
I can only say that I’ve seen Surron bikes with California motorcycle plates, so it must be possible. Then again, this is a state with a tremendous number of electric and other non-gasoline, non-diesel vehicles, so my guess is that the DMV is very used to the idea that something might not require a liquid fuel. It might be a easy as a form that certifies under penalty of perjury about the fuel type.
My understanding of federal law is that it doesn’t do much to affect whether a state can issue registration for a particular machine/vehicle (they usually can), but it does impact: 1) the ability to even import such a thing into the USA, and 2) whether other states will honor reciprocal operation when out-of-state.
I wish. Since the Surron and its ilk lack street legal VINs and also EPA certification (which is nonsensical, I know), most states simply refuse to allow you to plate them or operate them on public roads regardless of whether or not you’re willing to treat it as a motorcycle with insurance and a license, etc. Certainly on a Federal level and probably in most/all states, they’re not actually legally motorcycles.
But all 50 states will still blithely let you register a 49cc two stroke scooter and you can go belching blue smoke down the road at 23 MPH just as you please.
This is breathtakingly stupid.
I can only say that I’ve seen Surron bikes with California motorcycle plates, so it must be possible. Then again, this is a state with a tremendous number of electric and other non-gasoline, non-diesel vehicles, so my guess is that the DMV is very used to the idea that something might not require a liquid fuel. It might be a easy as a form that certifies under penalty of perjury about the fuel type.
My understanding of federal law is that it doesn’t do much to affect whether a state can issue registration for a particular machine/vehicle (they usually can), but it does impact: 1) the ability to even import such a thing into the USA, and 2) whether other states will honor reciprocal operation when out-of-state.