It has become increasingly common for consumers to ask whether electric vehicles street legal in the United States, despite their increasing popularity in recent years. Almost all electric vehicles sold in the U.S. are street legal, as they meet state and federal regulations.
Similarly to gasoline-powered cars, these vehicles must be equipped with proper lighting, brakes, and emissions controls. There may be differences in the rules for electric bikes, scooters, and low-speed vehicles depending on the state, especially when it comes to electric bikes, scooters, and low-speed vehicles.
This series emphasizes the term LSV (low speed vehicle) as the only important consideration here, since “NEV” is just a colloquial nickname for low speed vehicles. Conversely, a class of motor vehicles known as LSV is recognized by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as a federally recognized category of motor vehicles by the US Department of Transportation.
In many states, you’ll have to register, tag, and insure your LSV if you want to use it on public roads. However, that’s the key to making many of these tiny cars legal for use on public roads.
There is one very important point to keep in mind: Almost always, whether a LSV is street legal depends on the manufacturer, not the driver or owner. There are only a few specific cases in a minority of communities and states where non-street legal LSVs can be modified or converted into street legal vehicles. They need to comply with federal regulations when manufactured.
Federal regulation of low speed vehicles
LSVs must meet federal regulations for LSVs in order to be sold in the US for use on public roads, which means they must be designed and built from the start so that they can comply with street laws.
You should always ask the vendor whether the vehicles are registered with the NHTSA before buying an LSV. The first step is to make sure the factory is registered with the NHTSA. If the answer is “don’t worry, they only go 25 mph,” then you are probably not looking at a street legal LSV.
A proper VIN (vehicle identification number) cannot be assigned to the vehicles for registration without being registered and approved by the NHTSA as an LSV manufacturer. It is just one of more than a dozen federal requirements for LSVs to have VINs that conform to the same standards as those in place for all street legal vehicles in the US.
Due to the fact that very few overseas factories are actually registered with the NHTSA, they cannot provide a US VIN code, which is the step most foreign manufactured and imported LSVs miss. Many Chinese microcars imported to the US are equipped with VINs on the frame, but these are Chinese VINs.
A number of other vehicle requirements mimic those for full-size cars, including visibility and safety equipment. Low speed vehicles must have backup cameras that have very specific viewing angles.
As a reminder, this is the same standard as for full-sized cars and trucks in the US. Attaching a camera to a golf cart or microcar just won’t suffice.
There are also requirements for LSVs with electric drivetrains, such as pedestrian warning systems or pedestrian noisemakers. These have the same requirements as new electric cars like Teslas.
It is extremely important that very specific octave and decibel levels are programmed into the car’s noisemaker in order to warn pedestrians, especially those with vision impairments, that there is a vehicle present.
There are dozens of pages of detailed requirements for the pedestrian noisemaker alone, including the pitches and modulation required at different speeds.
As LSVs share the same rules as existing cars, they face some of the more difficult and cumbersome regulations, but those are not the only ones. In addition to lap belts or three-point seat belts that meet DOT requirements for full size cars, LSVs must also have windshields with DOT-approved glazing. It is mandatory that both windshields and seat belts be made by suppliers that are already DOT-registered.
It is not enough to just install a seatbelt. Other requirements pertain to lighting, brakes, reflectors, and mirrors.
The main difference between LSVs and full size cars in terms of street legality lies in the more complex safety requirements. Neither crash testing nor crumple zones are required in LSVs, nor are airbags, radar, or other major safety equipment.
A reduced safety equipment in the vehicles would likely result in ugly results if they were tested.
Those reasons are one reason why LSVs cannot exceed 25 mph (40 km/h) and must only be operated on roads with speed limits of 35 mph (56 km/h).
These two regulations are part of the federally mandated LSV regulations, designed to prevent these vehicles from merging with larger full-sized vehicles at higher speeds, which may result in fatal crashes.
Some cities and states have more lax LSV laws
It’s unclear if the above list is a comprehensive list of regulations for LSVs, but it gives an indication of the slightly confusing process companies must go through to comply with federal regulations on LSVs.
In most states, low speed vehicles are described in their state highway codes, and the state regulations are deferred to match the federal regulations. These are just the federal regulations. It is common for states to adopt the federal LSV regulations for LSVs in their own states. Some states impose stricter requirements, while others impose lenient ones.
Despite the fact that many US states rely solely on federal rules for LSVs, Colorado, however, sets its own more lenient rules that exempt some of the more complicated manufacturing requirements for LSVs. In this way, things like golf carts can be registered as LSVs, though this is a rare instance
Are golf carts streetlegal too?
In almost all states and cities across the country, golf carts are not allowed on the street.
Exceptions to this rule usually occur at the local level, which means a state, city, or township needs to create a specific ordinance permitting golf carts to be operated on public roads. A few cities, including Peachtree City in Georgia, have gained a reputation for this, but they are an extremely small minority.
It is best to contact your local police department or Department of Motor Vehicles to determine whether golf carts are street legal in your area.
LSV golf carts are only compatible with federal standards for low speed vehicles when they are specifically manufactured as such. It is true that the majority of major golf cart manufacturers produce LSV models of their golf carts, meaning they are designed to meet federal low speed vehicle regulations.
Only a few years ago, backup cameras and pedestrian noisemakers were listed as required equipment for LSVs. However, many models have not yet been updated to meet that requirement.
LSV golf carts still lack pedestrian warning systems, even though many have added backup cameras. The likelihood is that you won’t get cited by a cop for not installing a pedestrian warning system on your LSV golf cart, mostly because very few cops are aware of the requirement.
However, according to state law, without full compliance, LSV golf carts aren’t legally road-legal. What’s more, when the time comes to register, the complete set of equipment may not be available.
Beware of unscrupulous dealers claiming ‘street legal’ status
LSVs have become more popular in the US over the past few years, and shady vendors who claim to sell street legal LSVs have also become more prevalent.
There are no equivalent LSV laws in China, so most, if not all, are imports that were built for the Chinese market. Ironically, they’re not even legal to drive in China because they’re not even street legal. In China, however, they are still commonly used by elderly drivers, whose name loosely means “happy grandpa” cars.
Increasing numbers of Chinese models have been imported to the US. The most common vehicles are those marketed as “Chang Lis,” even though Chang Li is only a single manufacturer and most of these vehicles aren’t even produced by the company. Due to the fact that Chang Li vehicles do not meet federal regulatory standards for LSVs, they are not street legal in the US.
Many of these vehicles do not meet the DOT’s requirements for street legal LSV status, including the lack of DOT-stamped safety glass, pedestrian warning systems, proper lighting, DOT-certified seat belts, and other important elements. The most critical problem with these vehicles is that they do not have NHTSA-compliant VINs.
Many of these vehicles are branded with a VIN, but the number is actually Chinese, and they cannot be found in the NHTSA database because the manufacturer is not registered to export cars to the US.
There have been many shady US resellers selling these vehicles with claims of “street legal” plastered all over their websites and marketing materials, despite these noncompliance issues. In reality, Chinese manufactured LSVs, NEVs, and microcars are currently not street legal in the United States, unless they fall under city or state laws that are more relaxed than federal low speed vehicle laws.
According to my knowledge, the Pickman and the Wink are the only Chinese-manufactured LSVs on the street now.
People Also Ask
1. What electric vehicles don’t require a license in the USA?
The state’s regulations may allow certain electric vehicles to operate at a low speed without requiring a driver’s license. A LSV is typically a golf cart or neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) that travels at a speed of 25 mph or less and is only allowed in designated areas such as private communities, resorts, or university campuses. You should check specific local requirements, however, as state laws vary.
2. Are micro cars street legal in the US?
There are some microcars, such as neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) or low speed vehicles (LSVs), that are legal on the highways in certain areas of the U.S. These vehicles are usually allowed to drive on roads where speeds are limited to 35 mph or less. There are, however, federal safety standards that apply to them, including features like seatbelts and lights. Fullspeed micro cars are generally less common in the U.S. and are subject to more rigorous safety regulations.
3. What percentage of US vehicles on the road are electric?
A growing number of consumers are considering buying electric vehicles, better infrastructure, and government incentives that promote their adoption, which has led to roughly 12% of total vehicles on U.S. roads being fully electric by 2024.
4. What is the US policy on EVs?
Several policies have been implemented by the U.S. government to encourage electric vehicle adoption, including:
- Tax credits up to $7,500 are available for electric vehicle purchases, depending on battery capacity.(Tax Foundation).
- Incentives at the state level, such as rebates, tax credits, and reduced registration fees. (Alternative Fuels Data Center).
- Development of EV infrastructure, including increased charging station network investment (White House).
- It is necessary to impose stricter emissions standards to encourage automakers to produce more electric vehicles (EVs) and fewer internal combustion engines (ICEs). (Tax Foundation)
- A range of initiatives are being taken by the Tax Foundation to promote EV manufacturing in the U.S., including developing battery production and supply chains within the country (Tax Foundation).
- Policies such as these are designed to accelerate the transition from gasoline to electric mobility, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and support the development of clean energy.
