The BlackTea Moped packs a 50-mph top speed and more than enough range to knock out your usual daily trips.
If you live in or around a city these days, you might well be looking for a new way to zip around. After all, mass transit isn’t exactly as appealing as it was in, say, February (not that it was ever all that appealing to begin with) — yet driving everywhere in your car or truck is both a waste of gas and, thanks to what seems like ever-worsening traffic, often a waste of time.
This is where two-wheeled electrically-powered modes of transportation come into play. Sure, you could buy one of those high-tech new e-bikes that give your legs an electric assist, but you’ll be spending thousands of dollars on a machine that you still have to pedal. For that kind of money, don’t you deserve to have a bike that’ll do the work for you…and ideally, with a little bit of style?
Hence, the new BlackTea Moped. Ignore the latter part of the name; there are no pedals for auxiliary propulsion here. This “moped” is an electric motorcycle, albeit one small enough to qualify as a scooter by many definitions.
The BlackTea Moped isn’t just for commuting…obviously.
BlackTea Moped
An electric hub motor is connected to a 1.76-kWh battery that lies beneath the rider’s torso, delivering a top speed of 50 miles per hour or around 43 miles of range if you keep your average down to around 28 mph. (It’s governed to that speed for street use, but you can remove the limiter when on — cough, cough — private land.) If that’s not far enough, though, the bike has a slot for a second battery of equal size, enabling you to go twice as far on a charge.
Hydraulic disc brakes help haul it down to speed, while standard LED lighting helps split the night. Side mirrors, fenders, a horn, reflectors and turn signals, among other features, help make the BlackTea Moped street-legal both in its native Germany (and the rest of the European Union) and here in the United States. In Europe, anyone with a car or moped license can ride it; American licensing requirements vary by state.
Customer examples won’t be available until next year, but if you want to make sure you have one, you can reserve one on their Indiegogo page right now. In fact, if you’re among the next 35 reservations, you’ll be able to grab it for a steal; while the final price will reportedly be €4,200 (around $4,973), early buyers can grab it for €2,290 (roughly $2,692.)