With the rise in popularity of electric cars, it stands to reason that an electric motorcycle shouldn't be too far behind. And a new product from a company called LAND is blurring the lines between electric motorcycle, e-bike, and e-moped.
The bike, named the DISTRICT, has several different riding modes and a swappable "smart battery" that allows it to function as an e-bike with a top speed of 27 miles per hour, an e-moped with a top speed of 37 mph, or an e-motorcycle with a top speed of 70 mph, CleanTechnica reported.
"The EV revolution is already happening on two wheels," LAND founder and CEO Scott Colosimo said at a presentation at SXSW in 2023. He described the DISTRICT as the "world's first software-defined two-wheel vehicle."
CleanTechnica called the DISTRICT "an interesting take on two-wheeled electric mobility, and one which may be able to help transition more people from e-bikes into the electric motorcycle space."
This, too, is Colosimo's stated goal. During the SXSW presentation, he described the idea behind the project as getting customers "in through the e-bike and [stepping] them up through the process" to eventually ride a motorcycle "without any physical changes."
That, however, is where the company might run into issues around regulation. While people do not need a license to ride an e-bike in the United States, they do need one to ride a motorcycle, and it is not immediately clear from the product page how the DISTRICT will be classified.
CleanTechnica's commenters highlighted the need to learn more about the product's safety and regulations before it was rolled out, while others were intrigued by the possibilities of the pollution-reducing mode of transportation.
"This bike doesn't, it seems, have a pedal assist system, or even pedals for that matter … and the 'Moped' configuration exceeds the legal limit anywhere in the US," one commenter wrote.
"It is time to have … some of our roadways redesigned to allow two-wheel-drive-only bikes and ebikes (maybe some narrow three-wheelers) plus fast service public transit," another said.
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