What catagory does your vehicle fall under.
I am have a hell of a time here in California with Medium Speed Vehicles. None exist. The problem is vehicles are either freeway legal or restricted to 25 miles an hour, no matter how fast they really go. Is your vehicle just a fast neighborhood electric or is it fully street legal. Because if I can't drive it on the freeway It won't sell many in California.
Like my Gizmo, the Myers Motors NmG, the Aptera, and other similar 3-wheeled vehicles the Pulse is likely to fall under the motorcycle category in all states. The benefit to Acrimoto is that they fall under motorcycle manufacturing rules and don't have to do the extensive and very expensive crash testing. Some states will require a motorcycle license some won't. I don't know how CA will class it but my Gizmo is restricted to roads with a posted speed of 45mph or lower. My Gizmo is only designed for 40mph max so I would assume that the Pulse with a 55mph max speed would be allowed on roads with posted speeds of 60-65mph. This is purely a guess on my part. I don't work for Acrimoto, I just enjoy EVs and have been driving a 3-wheeled EV for over 3 years.
The Arcimoto Pulse is technically a motorcycle under Oregon law as well as vehicle classification laws in most other states. Many of these requirements are state law rather than federal, so there can be some variation but usually not too much. The Arcimoto Pulse can lawfully go speeds that motorcycles can go. The speed of the vehicle is determined by our engineering team and gets into technical areas that I can't answer. Our technical team has currently set the top speed at 55 miles per hour.
A couple of important notes about the motorcycle classification.
1. In Oregon and most states a motorcycle endorsement is not required to drive the Arcimoto Pulse.
2. In Oregon and most states a helmet is not required to be worn when driving or riding in the Arcimoto Pulse.
In the 2009 Legislative Session, Oregon passed a Medium Speed Vehicle law. As these laws are being adopted state by state, it remains to be seen whether manufacturers will choose to take advantage of these laws. Good luck in California!
Trevor
Director of Government Relations
Arcimoto LLC