Traffic laws can’t keep up with Mexico City’s electric mopeds

For much of his adult life, Julio Ernesto Trevisán, a retired retailer, relied on his motorcycle to get around Mexico City. But recently, when the 78-year-old started to struggle with the vehicle’s weight, he found a better alternative: an electric moped.

The compact vehicle can run up to 30 kilometers per hour (1 mile = 1.6 kilometers). It allows Trevisán to easily navigate the infamous traffic snarls in the city, where work commutes can take more than two hours.

Like Trevisán, other Mexico City residents have purchased electric mopeds in recent years. But local regulations about the usage of these vehicles have remained unclear. Neither distributors nor authorities have shared clear guidelines on how to categorize the electric moped — a hybrid between an electric motorcycle with pedals and an electric bicycle with widely varying maximum speeds depending on the model. This has resulted in some electric-moped drivers using the battery-operated vehicles in bicycle lanes, like Trevisán does. Others drive them on sidewalks and the wrong way down bus lanes, risking their own safety and that of pedestrians.

“It seems that since these vehicles are new, they started to be sold with unclear information or without any at all,” Andrés Lajous Loaeza, Mexico City’s secretary of mobility, said during a press conference in May. In Mexico City, vehicles that run above 25 kilometers per hour are considered motorized, he said, and therefore “need to have license plates and … a helmet that matches the vehicle’s characteristics.”

Most electric mopeds seen in Mexico City do not have license plates yet, even though some faster models can reach a maximum speed of 49 kilometers per hour.

Lajous Loaeza said his team had met with electric moped manufacturers to explain existing traffic regulations, adding that most had conveyed the message to their clients.

But guidelines from sellers — many of whom are Chinese manufacturers like Evobike — remain inconsistent, nine electric moped owners told Rest of World . Six said they used bike lanes, while only a third said they wear a helmet — recommended when going above 25 kilometers per hour by the International Transport Forum, a think tank within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Many distributors hawk electric mopeds as electric bicycles, but users like Javier García, a clothing retailer, disagree. “As an [electric] bicycle, it’s hard [to ride],” he told Rest of World . “It’s heavy, difficult, and you can’t last a kilometer” pedaling on it.

SEMOVI, the city’s mobility secretariat, declined an interview request from Rest of World .

There are benefits to using electric vehicles for micro-mobility in a city as densely populated and sprawling as the Mexican capital. Many of its 22.5 million residents choose between driving a car — and paying for increasingly expensive gas — or using overcrowded public transportation. Of those who choose the latter, nearly 20% experience stress during their commutes, according to a 2023 study by the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Two-wheelers have become a welcome alternative, thanks to their compact size and affordability.

“Last year, so many competitors came to Mexico,” David Wang, store manager at E-Solomo, a company that specializes in EVs, told Rest of World , adding that “the market is still growing.”

The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, a nongovernmental organization that promotes sustainable and equitable transportation, classifies scooters, bicycles, skateboards, cargo bikes, and rickshaws as “micro-mobility vehicles” — but excludes electric mopeds and cars, either because they have internal combustion engines or can exceed 45 kilometers per hour.

Luna Flores, marketing representative for Evobike México, a popular distributor of electric mopeds in the country, told Rest of World they used to think that no vehicles with motors were allowed in the bike lane.

“But then there was a quandary on the part of the authorities,” she said, adding that her understanding was that for the vehicle to use the bike lanes, it was not so much about the speed of travel, but the power of the engine. Evobike provides its customers with a user manual encouraging them to use bicycle and motorcycle lanes, and not exceed 35 kilometers per hour.

Other EV sellers, like E-Solomo and E-Monsieur, have advertised a free helmet with the purchase of an electric moped — which they promote as an electric bicycle. A Honey Whale customer told Rest of World he’d also received a free helmet.

While SEMOVI does not track data on accidents involving electric mopeds, there has been an increase in those involving two-wheelers. Between April 2020 and June 2023, motorcycles were involved in three out of every five traffic incidents, and their drivers made up the largest number of fatalities, according to a report from the Mexico City government.

“People think that by using these units [electric mopeds], they can go in the fast lanes and drive as if it were a [regular] vehicle,” Brandon Flores, branch manager at E-Hermas, an EV distributor in Mexico City, told Rest of World . “I ask the team to tell people that just because it can go at a certain speed doesn’t mean they should break the law.”

Electric mopeds “could be considered sustainable and healthy,” Paco de Anda, a road safety specialist in Mexico City, told Rest of World , but “the pedals on these bikes are often just for show because some models have a very good battery range, and people simply opt not to pedal.”

In the midst of this confusion, the hype over electric mopeds is only growing.

Cristian Kim, a Korean influencer in Mexico City, recently announced to his 5.2 million subscribers that he was going to start selling Evobikes. “While this one looks like a motorcycle, it’s completely a bicycle,” he said in a video, pointing to a black-and-orange model with a maximum speed of 49 kilometers per hour. “This means you don’t have to pay vehicle ownership [fees], you don’t need a license.”

Kim did not respond to an interview request from Rest of World.

Trevisán said it’s only a matter of time before electric mopeds are properly regulated. Until then, he hopes he can continue to use his vehicle. He often rides it alongside his partner, Rosario Chamorro, 61, who uses an electric bike. Trevisán, who wears a helmet, often tries to talk Chamorro into using one.

“The helmet is for safety,” said Trevisán. “At our age, a fall is always concerning.” ▰

Alejandra Rajal is a freelance documentary photographer based in Mexico.