Electric Motorcycles & Electric Bicycles

The major distinction between an electric bicycle and an electric motorcycle is defined (in the USA) by the Federal Department of Transportation (DOT) which governs a blanket of mandatory safety conditions that all vehicles must meet in order to be sold anywhere in the USA.

Of these rules and regulations there is one that stands out : speed

An electric bicycle is not to exceed 20 miles per hour (32 Km/hour) in classes 1 and 2.

However, there have been a growing number of class distinctions where in under certain configurations (tires, wheels, markers, ...) that electric bicycles have been extended to go up to 28 miles per hour (45 Km/hour) in class 3.

Beyond these speeds, it basically enters into the electric motorcycle classes.

So if you are looking at an electric bicycle and are also considering an electric motorcycle, the first decision would be considering how fast you want (or need) to travel.

A secondary consideration is that electric bicycles are restricted to specific portions of the road, certain times of day, and may not be used on freeways, so depending on which paths you want to travel, will be anther major consideration.

Here's a link to some of the e-bike class definitions for electric bicycles :

https://www.wired.com/story/guide-to-ebike-classes/

Here's the wikipedia website for electric bicycles laws:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_bicycle_laws