What are the pros and cons of an electric moped?

Monaou2

Hi - would be grateful for your thoughts....

Thinking of buying an electric moped for commuting in Dublin - this will be my first bike. The brand is Lifan. Its the electric equivalent of 50cc as this is what I can drive with my license. Commute is ~ 8km each way in city traffic. I cycle in the summer but are reluctant to cycle in the dark, so hoping that a moped would be safer with full lights etc (is that crazy logic?!).

Any opinions on the brand or the idea of an electric moped in general? Should I just go for a standard petrol 50cc one and not complicate things?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Max Headroom

Monaou2 wrote: »

Hi - would be grateful for your thoughts....

Thinking of buying an electric moped for commuting in Dublin - this will be my first bike. The brand is Lifan. Its the electric equivalent of 50cc as this is what I can drive with my license. Commute is ~ 8km each way in city traffic. I cycle in the summer but are reluctant to cycle in the dark, so hoping that a moped would be safer with full lights etc (is that crazy logic?!).

Any opinions on the brand or the idea of an electric moped in general? Should I just go for a standard petrol 50cc one and not complicate things?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Wouldn't imagine any cons tbh......go for it

Del2005

Max Headroom wrote: »

Wouldn't imagine any cons tbh......go for it

The big con is that you will require tax, insurance and licence while if you get a pedelec and proper lights, most cheap motorbikes have crap lights, you can travel for nearly free.

(ii) a pedelec,

but does not include a moped or a scooter;

‘ pedelec ’ means a bicycle or tricycle which is equipped with an auxiliary electric motor having a maximum continuous rated power of 0.25 kilowatts, of which output is progressively reduced and finally cut off as the vehicle reaches a speed of 25 kilometres per hour, or sooner if the cyclist stops pedalling;

Or if like most people you don't care about tax,insurance etc then just get an electric bicycle or stick a 2 stroke motor to a bicycle frame and you can motor away without any issues, yet..

ED E

Del2005 wrote: »

Or if like most people you don't care about tax,insurance etc then just get an electric bicycle or stick a 2 stroke motor to a bicycle frame and you can motor away without any issues, yet..

https://twitter.com/GardaTraffic/status/1057594110532640768 Scrap the yet Del.



Insuring a Lifan e-scooter here might be a pain in the face. Find out first before buying. Motor tax will be tiny and op costs also tiny, if it can be insured.

Hotblack Desiato

If it doesn't have European vehicle type approval you can forget about running it legally on the road.

MSVforever

Monaou2 wrote: »

Hi - would be grateful for your thoughts....

Thinking of buying an electric moped for commuting in Dublin - this will be my first bike. The brand is Lifan. Its the electric equivalent of 50cc as this is what I can drive with my license. Commute is ~ 8km each way in city traffic. I cycle in the summer but are reluctant to cycle in the dark, so hoping that a moped would be safer with full lights etc (is that crazy logic?!).

Any opinions on the brand or the idea of an electric moped in general? Should I just go for a standard petrol 50cc one and not complicate things?

Thanks for your thoughts.

It's a Chinese brand. I'm not sure how reliable they are. I personally would stick with a petrol scooter from the usual brands i. e. Yamaha, Honda, Piaggio etc

If you want to to go down the electrical route then get an electric bicycle from a decent shop e.g. Greenaer in Dublin 2. They sell all the quality brands.

spiggotpaddy

I would consider a leccy scooter as a disposable novelty. You could get a Japanese 125 and use it every winter for the next 20 years and then sell it for what you paid for it.