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Comment by Bouncingsoul1 | Hacker News Reader

No I think it fits perfectly AM, in Germany it is even called Motorfahrrad (MoFa, motorized bike). The pedals seem silly but I remember using them on step streets. Anyway just compare the specs here https://bmdv.bund.de/SharedDocs/EN/Articles/StV/Roadtraffic/... "a maximum design speed of up to 45 km/h" "an electric motor or an internal combustion engine with a cubic capacity not exceeding 50 cc or a maximum continuous rated power of up to 4 kW in the case of electric motors"

And the specs mentioned in the artikle "...his brake layout again confirms that the bike is intended to fit the “50cc” moped category, with a top speed of 28 mph(~45 km/h) and no more than 4kW of power"

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OK I read the news different way - it will be for sure more than 250W so you need license already anyway, so I've found pedals odd and thought they used them to avoid requiring any license.

And if they don't care about license then more than 1/3 of Europe (population) have A1 already with B license anyway, so why use pedals then, this seems like really odd niche for teenagers, since if you are adult you either have B license (and pretty good odds having A1 anyway, so you have much higher limits) and you can drive electric motorbike without pedals or don't have any license and you are not gonna make AM specifically to ride this moped, if they wanted to target the group without license they should add pedals (which they did) and weak 0.25kW electric engine (which, they won't), so this is really motorbike for teenagers, otherwise they should ditch pedals and can put there stronger engine if it's intended for adults.

In Poland you can ride 2/3-wheel AM vehicles (45km/h, commonly unlocked for more) without any license (just registration and insurance), if you were born before 1995. In Finland if born before 1985.

But AM vehicle category don't require pedals, so the pedals seem pointless.

>it will be for sure more than 250W so you need license already anyway

1 kWh motorized bicycles do not require a license or vehicle registration here. You just need liability insurance on your bike.

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