UPDATE: Michigan State Police say ELF, electric assist bicycle, is a motor vehicle.
READ MORE IN THE LANSING STATE JOURNAL, AUG. 2, 2013
ORIGINAL POST: Just B Yoga student and Warrior Member, Yvonne LeFave, made Michigan greening history July 31 with the delivery of her ELF organic vehicle.
The covered vehicle is a pedaled tricycle with solar power assist for extra juice! There’s disc brakes, sideview mirrors, and a little cargo space in the back.
And it’s cute.
(Apologies for the quality of this video)
Yvonne has been a passionate zero-carbon traveler for a number of years now, getting around to work, shop and play with a bicycle.
She is often seen coming to yoga class with her utility bike, especially built for hauling and carrying.
She even carries or walks her dog alongside.
I guess now the doggies can jump in the back cargo area and ride along in style!
Yvonne said she was one of the people who helped ELF get launched by contributing to a Kickstarter campaign and she got to be among the first to order the vehicle.
UPDATE: Yvonne just posted on Facebook “Well, there’s often a price to pay for being on the “bleeding edge” of technology. The reporter from the (Lansing State Journal) called today to say he was contacted by a representative from the Michigan State Police saying that, in her estimation, this should be classified as a moped under Michigan vehicular law. Since it’s the first one in the State, and since other electric-assist bicycles don’t require a moped license to my knowledge, I think it sets a bad precedent for me to automatically license it as a moped without consulting some bicycle lobbying and green gurus. It’ll be parked until we iron it all out.”
Keep your fingers crossed and let’s push for this innovative, green vehicle to be allowed on the roads.
Kudos to Yvonne for being a trailblazer for green transportation.
4 Responses
Yvonne may wish to contact Bryan Waldman with Sinas-Dramis Law. He is a personal injury attorney but is well versed in the law as it relates to cyclists.
We will share this with her. Thank you!
This is awesome… though anything new and different is scary to some. However, I can’t in my wildest dreams imagine how the impact of these would not be a huge boon to any community reaping huge benefits in public safety, pollution reduction, economic savings, and sustainability.
I agree with you. We can revision, reshape and reinvent our communities to be healthy – the earth, the people, our spirits. Thanks for reading and sharing.
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