Off-highway electric motorcycles.

Senator Jones, along with Assembly Members Jeff Gonzalez and Sanchez, advances SB 586 to define off-highway electric motorcycles and place them within California’s off-highway vehicle identification framework, anchoring eMotos in the state's regulatory regime for non-highway use.

The bill creates a new definitional category for an off-highway electric motorcycle, or eMoto, grounded in six manufacturer-determined characteristics: designed for operation primarily off the highway; powered by an electric motor that does not require a motor number; handlebars for steering; a manufacturer-provided straddle seat; two wheels; and no pedals provided by the manufacturer. By defining eMoto, the measure designates such vehicles as off-highway motor vehicles that may be subject to the existing identification regime. It amends current rules so that off-highway vehicles not registered because they are used exclusively off the highways must display an identification plate or device issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles, subject to specified exemptions. It also expands the list of vehicles considered “off-highway motor vehicles” to explicitly include the defined eMoto, ensuring it is encompassed within the division’s scope of identification requirements.

Enforcement and fiscal structure are framed around the existing regime: the DMV would issue identification plates or devices for eMotos, and violations of the applicable identification rules remain crimes under current law. The bill does not specify new penalties, instead deferring to existing criminal provisions. It retains a set of exemptions in the identification framework, and positions eMotos within the broader classification of off-highway motor vehicles subject to identification, contingent on whether an individual eMoto falls outside any exemptions.

Implementation, oversight, and costs are described as lacking a new state appropriation, with a explicit no-reimbursement provision for local agencies or school districts despite acknowledging potential local enforcement activity. There is no explicit effective date in the text; legislative history indicates passage and enrollment in 2025. Tasked with implementation, the DMV would apply the identification requirement to eligible eMotos, manufacturers and distributors would assess conformance to the six criteria, and law enforcement would enforce the identification regime in appropriate jurisdictions consistent with the existing off-highway framework.

The bill broadens the off-highway vehicle landscape to include a clearly defined class of electric motorcycles and embeds them in the identification and enforcement apparatus. Stakeholders likely affected include manufacturers and retailers of eMotos, owners and operators, the DMV, local law enforcement, and local governments bearing enforcement costs without state reimbursement. Open questions remain about how “exclusively off the highways” would be interpreted for mixed-use scenarios, how penalties would be applied absent new provisions, and how on-road interactions or pedal-equipped configurations would be treated under exemptions and cross-state recognition provisions.