General Category > Electric Motorcycle News

Techcruch covers Bolt

(1/2) > >>

BrianTRice@gmail.com:
"The Tesla of" is such a well-worn phrase: Taking A Spin On Bolt, The Tesla Of Electric Motorbikes

I think by "motorbikes", one can only really interpret as "mopeds", given the top speed (40mph), etc. I'm unsure how they're claiming it's a bicycle-class vehicle; most bicycle class laws I know of restrict top speed to 20mph. But I suppose it's "under 160cc".

Since I have a bias towards Zero, it sure seems like this platform might handle a ZF2.8 swappable cel.


Here's the product website, in case you want to cut past the journalistic angle: Bolt Motorbikes

Erasmo:
Yeah that's just a moped, those peddles are there mostly for decoration.

BrianTRice@gmail.com:
The FAQ claims that the bicycle designation is okay because they're only counting Eco mode. That's a bit of a dodge, but honestly I like the idea so I'd probably go for it. It does have dual chains rather than the pedals being a "soft assist".

In any case, it's cheaper than the E-Rockit.

protomech:
Per their FAQ:

--- Quote ---How long do the batteries last?

Our Lithium Iron Phosphate cells are rated for over 2000 cycles, before any noticeable reduction in performance. What that means is that you can ride your bike 30 miles a day every day for 5.5 years, or more realistically, they will last 8-10 years.
--- End quote ---

From TechCrunch:

--- Quote ---The bikes are handmade in a small garage on the edge of town and come with the same type of lithium-ion batteries used in Teslas.
--- End quote ---

Not quite...

Anyhow. Looks like an interesting bike, but IMO these type of products are a little bit disingenuous.

Goes 40 mph but you only need a bicycle helmet to ride?
No license / registration required because it's a bike, but you never need to pedal?

Straddling a gray area between exclusively human-powered and exclusively motorized vehicles gives you some advantages of both, but also runs into a tangled mess of local regulations. This is a well-worn path by mopeds, but electric motors bring some new things (mode-selectable power and speed limits, 0 cc displacement) that will eventually be addressed by updated regulation.

Regardless of actual legal status and power and top speed, electric bikes that look like pedal bikes will probably skate by, while electric biks that look like motorcycles will probably run into trouble.

Cortezdtv:
lol that technically cannot be street legal.... Legally

You can properly register it sure..... But they would nevertheless let you ride that I the street where I'm from



To be bike late legal

The motor driven cycle must be capable of a speed no greater than 30mph on level ground no faster. Must have petals or be powered solely by electrical energy, and if powered solely by electrical energy must have less than 1.8 hp or something very very low


Been there done that even went all the way to court with it..... And won.  I know my mini bike laws; used to know them by heart so when I would get pulled over the cops got the dmv paragraph jammed down their throat before they could say you can't ride that on the street


The vehicle can't have a switch or programming to lower or increase the speed above 30 mph like this does



Cool idea though!!!

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page