I think inherent safety issues will keep ebikes classified as-is. A fast human humans can sprint 30km/h, and our skulls and skin can mostly survive a fall at th

I think inherent safety issues will keep ebikes classified as-is. A fast human humans can sprint 30km/h, and our skulls and skin can mostly survive a fall at that speed. Every ebike is limited to that speed because that's the safe speed. 40km/h doesn't feel much faster when you're doing it, but a fall at that speed is an order of magnitude more likely to need hospitalization. I expect something between a velomobile and a tuktuk could be engineered to protect a rider from a fall, but where would you drive it? It wouldn't be safe to share a road with trucks, and but it would be a danger to cyclists. Edit: We have the tech to do it right now--the homebrew combo of bafang motor and phaserunner controller can turn a mountain bike into a suicide machine. It would be a sensible upgrade for a dutch-style cargo bike though. Keep it locked under 30kph and you could take little kids on a grocery run. (Where city trail infrastructure exists.)