California Air Resources Board

California law generally requires all new vehicles to have labeling indicating compliance with required emission standards. Fully electric-drive motorcycles are not subject to California emissions standards and will often not have labeling indicating compliance with California requirements, however most fully electric-driven motorcycles do require Federal emission labeling in order to be registered. Please refer to the following information before purchasing any fully electric motorcycle:

Electric motorcycle registration information

Vehicles sold new by California licensed new motor vehicle dealers will be properly registered and reported to the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) as "fully electric drive motorcycles". No further action to register the vehicle is required.

New electric-drive motorcycles sold online, out-of-state, or by businesses not licensed as new motor vehicle dealers, will require a "verification" inspection by the DMV prior to registration. At this inspection, the DMV Verifyier will ensure that the vehicle meets all requirements to be considered a motorcycle and that it is fully electric powered.No fuel or fuel fired accessories are permitted.

If it is a motorcycle design or specification that requires Federal emissions labeling, the DMV will also verify compliance with this regulation.  If the vehicle is missing required labeling, please contact the vehicle manufacturer for assistance.

In all cases, do not purchase any electric powered motorcycle without first checking its compliance status with the vehicle manufacturer.

More Information

Neighborhood electric vehicles are smaller, lighter, and far less featured four-wheeled vehicles. Since they are powered by 100% battery supplied electricity, they are classified as zero-emissions vehicles. These neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) are certified to a special US DOT low-speed vehicle safety standard. This standard allows significantly reduced safety features, crash testing, and equipment. Because of this, these vehicles are only allowed to be used on roads with posted speed limits of 35 MPH or less. Use of these vehicles on any road or freeway with posted speed limits above 35 MPH can result in a citation, regardless of the speed at which traffic may actually be operating.

Please note that due to the restrictions of the safety standards, NEV's cannot be issued any California HOV lane access decals.