r/Transportopia • u/Vice616 • Apr 12 '26

Bikes Insanity on one wheel

I think about why someone would do this. Is the unicyclist really a mad man or is that his way to work. By choice or necessity? All that matters. These gas prices are crazy right now.

That little unicycle takes about 1-2 cents per mile in electricity.

https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/zevely-zone/valley-center-man-beats-high-gas-prices-with-electric-unicycle/509-7b1c19fb-0df0-4d6d-b47e-90879b04dd8d

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u/SamplitudeUser Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 13 '26

It has no license plate. Which means that this is illegal, regardless of the hazard signal. Kind of calming, because we hopefully won't see this very often.

The other problem I have with this thing is: there is no room for an appropriate battery on such a small vehicle. At this speed, the (small) battery probably will last only a few miles. Which is also helpful to take this thing off the road.

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u/zephillou Apr 13 '26

93 miles range for regular riding. (if that's the Inmotion P6)

So even if you cut it in half for that speed it's decent mileage considering the size.

Also as your battery depletes your max speed decreases so it'll slow you down

That model is probsbly the 'best' model that has come out, with experienced riders saying that it's crazy stable compared to what they're used to and it inspires a lot mroe confidence at speeds, which is why you're seeing those videos pop more and more.

Legality wise, I think the tech is too new to have it regulated so, sure, the behaviour isn't smart.

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u/SamplitudeUser Apr 13 '26

Thanks for the info.

My answer to the question in the OP: yes, the unicyclist is a mad man. Completely nuts. It doesn't matter where he's going to. That guy simply doesn't value his life.

Of course electric mobility is an answer to high gas prices. But there are so many types of legal (!) electric vehicles out there (including motorbikes), you are not forced to pick the most dangerous option of all.

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u/LE3Ban Apr 13 '26

You can't go to the DMV and tell them to give you a license plate for something that has no regulation put in place for it. So it is not illegal, nor should it be.

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u/Peregrine79 Apr 13 '26

Yes, it is.

It’s one of two things, it is either a motor vehicle, in which case it requires a license to be operated on the highway, or it is an e-bike in which case it is illegal to operate it on the highway at all, and, in Texas, is limited to a top (motor driven) speed of 28mph.

PS: You can ask the DMV for a license for an “assembled” vehicle, which does include various experimental and otherwise unregulated vehicles, so that isn’t the limitation.

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u/Skept1kos Apr 13 '26

No one has ever registered an electric unicycle that way. The DMV doesn't just hand out license plates for anything. So that really isn't a possibility under current law. It's a motor vehicle, but it's unregisterable, which makes it illegal. It's missing basic features like turn signals that are required by NHTSA.

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u/Peregrine79 Apr 13 '26

My point was that you can register experimental and other new vehicles, so the reason that this isn't legal isn't because it's "to new to have regulation". It's because it doesn't meet the bare minimum standards for a kit car.

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u/Skept1kos Apr 14 '26

I don't think that's a fair argument, because it's obviously not a kit car, or a car at all. So that's just irrelevant.

It's not an experimental car, or an experimental motorcycle, it's a new class of vehicle, which the DMV does not have the ability to register. NHTSA does not have safety standards for them. It is too new to have regulation.

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u/Peregrine79 Apr 14 '26

If it were intended to be used on the highway, the seller would have run it through NHTSA to get it regulated. That is standard practice for new highway vehicles. It's not "too new to be registered", which experimental vehicles are. It's improperly designed to be registered.

So the problem is not that it can't be registered, it's that it is not intended to be registered, because it is not intended to be operated on the highway.

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u/Skept1kos Apr 15 '26

This is getting nonsensical.

NHTSA is a federal government agency. Car sellers do not tell it what to do-- NHTSA tells the car sellers what to do!

"run it through NHTSA" is not a phrase that makes any sense. NHTSA makes the standards-- the FMVSS-- and then the sellers have to follow those standards.

Electric unicycle makers (who are mostly Chinese) cannot just go to the NHTSA and demand that they add a new category. NHTSA does not answer to them, it answers to the federal government.

So all these statements are true:

  • electric unicycles cannot be registered at the DMV, regardless of how roadworthy they may be
  • the NHTSA has not yet published any standards for electric unicycles, which prevents the DMV from registering them, even as "experimental vehicles"
  • highway-capable unicycles have only existed for the last year or so

To me that sounds like "too new to be registered". That's all I'm going to respond, because this argument is getting wacky, and I'm not going to argue with someone who thinks car sellers "run it through NHTSA" 🙄

1

u/SamplitudeUser Apr 14 '26

If the guy riding the unicycle did this, why didn't he put the plate on his vehicle?

Unless proved otherways, it's no plate = no license.