【Sisters Slave】

Just because it has two wheels,Sisters Slave an electric motor, and a battery doesn't mean you can call it a scooter.

SAE International, the engineering association that sets standards for autonomous vehicles, announced its first classification system for "powered micromobility vehicles," otherwise known as e-scooters and other small electric vehicles, on Thursday.

These new terms are here because the term "scooter" was applied to anything and everything. Human-powered and battery-free scooters are called scooters (like old-school Razors). Small mopeds and some lightweight motorcycles are called scooters (like Vespas and Scoot vehicles). And then scooter-share companies like Bird, Lime, and others call their electric vehicles "scooters," too. It's so confusing.

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With more of the devices and different variations entering the market (autonomous scooters are next, watch out!), SAE devised a helpful classification system complete with a taxonomy and naming convention for all the different ways you can get around. Each type of vehicle is defined by certain features.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

We've got powered bicycles, powered standing scooters, powered seated scooters, powered self-balancing boards, powered non-self-balancing boards, and powered skates (like the Segway "hovershoes"). If it doesn't have an electric component you can just call it a scooter, a bicycle, or a skateboard. Plain and simple.

SEE ALSO: This smart e-scooter knows how to fix itself before catching on fire

It might take a while for a universal naming convention to catch on, but at least we can start talking on the same terms.

Topics Electric Vehicles

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