Smaug
Well-known member
Yep, to me, it's a (slow) electric moped.I have an electric moped (thing weighs ~200 lbs) with a 21MPH top speed and no pedal assist necessary. It can pedal but no one is going to pedal this at about a 3:1 final drive. Heck, what do I have then? I've driven this on sidewalks, roads...passed Police with my boy on the proper fold out rear seat with enclosed rear tire on either surface. No one cares anymore with gas at $6.50 a gallon here.
"Moped" is defined differently in different states. In some states, it just has to be under 50cc. (I had a Honda Metropolitan scooter with 49.5cc displacement that would go 38 mph all day long.)
Honda made a "moped" version that was restricted to 25 mph, for the states that just made a speed limit.
In other states, a moped has to have pedals that are (in theory) functional. My grandpa had a Jawa moped in the early 80s that was pedal-to-start two stroke, and if a fellow had to pedal that more than about 50', he was at risk of a heart attack. It was preferable to walk than pedal it, and god help you if you had to push it up a hill... Still, it allowed him to join my brother and I on bike rides around town into his 80s, so it was awesome.