Zero Motorcycles announced this week that production of its new XE and XB electric motorcycles is now officially underway, with…
However, the non-street legal status of the bikes in the US means that sales could be hindered, unlike in Europe where the XB and XE models are homologated for use on public roads.
That is disappointing, although I wonder if that restriction applies to places where scooters and bicycles are permitted. It seems like it would fit right in with scooters, but with better handling of crappy roads.
Maybe the lack of lights is the issue, not the form factor.
It’s the regulatory environment. Same reason all the Surrons and Cakes and so forth that are road legal in Europe aren’t road legal here.
If these things don’t show up with FVMSS compliance certification, correct manufacturers certificates of origin stating that they are on-road motorcycles, valid and registered VINs, complaint with all NHTSA requirements and certified to qualify as either a “motorcycle” or “motor driven cycle,” it doesn’t matter how many lights they can strap onto the thing. It can’t be imported or sold as a road legal vehicle in the US, period. Even if it could be legal due to having the required features and equipment, if the manufacturer didn’t do the paperwork it still isn’t legal. And that’s before you get into the asinine state-by-state laws that will refuse to acknowledge any vehicle that does not fit into their narrow definitions of motorcycle or moped. You know, the ones I’m always complaining about that keep smoke-belching two stroke 49cc mopeds legal but not a Surron. You don’t have one set of regulatory hurdles in the US, you actually have 51.
Just to put it into perspective, Zero already sells full size electric motorcycles here and they rack up something like 3,500 units sold across their entire product range in a good year; these chump numbers still manage make them the highest volume electric motorcycle seller in the country. Meanwhile, Harley Davidson sold 94,930 machines in 2024. (And if anyone cares, Harley only managed to shift 614 Livewires in 2024.)
They’d sell about four of these, most likely utterly failing to recoup whatever expense they generated in getting them imported. Urban commuters who want affordable in-town transportation will just select from the bevy of available electric bicycles that require neither a plate nor a motorcycle license. I imagine most buyers of these would be rich kids or their parents who expect to use them purely in the dirt, or the type of punk who would happily ride a Surron dirty everywhere anyway; neither of these demographics are particularly interested in road legal compliance.
And they sure wouldn’t sell one to me, because I refuse to buy any product from Zero, ever. They tried to pull the subscription and pay-to-unlock hardware features stunt on their electric motorcycles several years ago, and that demonstrated that they’re not a trustworthy company.
I love electric dirtbikes, but the space is already so crowded by Surron, Talaria, E Ride Pro, Altis, Stark, Mototec, Ventus, Arctic Leopard, KTM, and many more. The laws need changed to accept these as street legal mopeds. Otherwise, we all know these bikes just piss off Karens (and waste cop’s time citing and impounding them). This seems like a desperate attempt for Zero to make a quick buck because being “the Tesla of e-motorcycles” isn’t working out for them.
