Setting the stage for a class action lawsuit as to what differentiates an eBike from an eMoto EV, Southern California-based Super73 made headlines during the Christmas break. According to the Orange County Register, the lawsuit centers on what Super73 markets as class 2 e-bikes or throttle-assisted bicycles. Under California law, class 2 e-bikes are allowed to have the top throttle speed of 20 mph. Class 1 and class 3 e-bikes have motors that provide pedal assistance and have top speeds of 20 mph and 28 mph, respectively.
The plaintiff, Hillary Whitman, alleges Super73 makes products that can be used to break the state’s speed limits for e-bikes. Filed in Marin County Superior Court, the suit seeks a refund for the plaintiff, a judicial declaration that Super73 vehicles are not ebikes under California law and a court order certifying the suit as a class action.
“Plaintiff purchased the vehicle based on the company’s representations that it was an e-bike that her son could legally ride — a Class 2 ebike,” the lawsuit says. Whitman contacted Central Marin police Chief Michael Norton to ask if it was legal for her son to ride his Super73 ebike. “He told her no,” the lawsuit says. “She asked him if she could legally ride it, and he again said no.”
Norton was among four police chiefs in Marin County who signed a joint letter in May that warned parents about an increase in youths illegally and recklessly riding electric motorcycles under the pretense they are legal e-bikes. Other signers were the police chiefs of Mill Valley, Fairfax and Ross. The chiefs said legal e-bikes cannot be powered to more than 750 watts, and if they have a throttle control, they cannot be enabled to travel faster than 20 mph.
Bob Mittelstaedt, an attorney and co-founder of the Marin nonprofit E-Bike Access, expressed support for the lawsuit. “Our local schools and police have been struggling with the plague of these dangerous, rogue motorcycles that are sold as e-bikes to unsuspecting parents,” he said. “This lawsuit targets the source of the problem: the company that makes and markets these devices.”
A Super73 company representative could not be reached for comment.
