Police could soon punish parents for teens running amok on e-bikes
In what could be a sign of a broader wave of tightening regulation on illicit electric bike activity, one New York town plans to start punishing parents when their underage kids commit e-bike infractions.
Electric bikes have become a popular alternative form of transportation in the US and around the world, saving commuters time and money compared to car usage, not to mention significantly reducing harmful emissions that compound the effects of climate change.
However, the spike in popularity of e-bikes has also led to an increase in cases of their misuse, especially among younger riders. The two main issues often cited by cities in the US involve illegal e-bikes (which are often not electric bicycles at all but rather light electric motorcycles that are ridden like e-bikes), or the use of e-bikes by underage riders… and sometimes both.
Now, the town of East Aurora is looking to push back by penalizing not just the underage riders, but also their parents.
According to Erie County Sheriff John Garcia, an uptick in infractions has led to increased risks to teen and tween e-bike riders in the area. Until now, parents of underage e-bike riders (15 years of age or younger) in the state of New York could only be cited if the juvenile was riding the e-bike while the parent was present. Now, the town is planning to enact a stricter local law, allowing for the parents to be cited regardless of whether or not they were present during the infraction.
Many town leaders support the proposed change, but others aren’t as excited about it.
“I’ve spoken with parents that aren’t very happy with our enforcement of it, you know, ‘let kids be kids’ kind of thing,” explained East Aurora Police Department Chief Patrick Welch when discussing enforcement of the existing law. “However, that’s great until somebody gets struck by a car.”
A vote is set for later this month, and if approved by the town board, then the new stricter regulation will become law.
Electrek’s Take
I think this is an interesting development. I wouldn’t normally cover news out of a town of less than 6,000 people, but in this case, I think we’re getting an early peek at what could become a new type of enforcement in many parts of the US.
I’m a huge proponent of electric bikes, and I think we need to push more of them out on the streets to displace more cars. Every kid riding an e-bike to high school could be another SUV off the road. But I’m not going to bury my head in the sand and say that young teens with undeveloped prefrontal cortices aren’t going to make dumb decisions on them. So I do believe it makes sense to regulate e-bike use more tightly than non-electric bikes when it comes to young riders, since pedal bikes don’t allow kids to reach such speeds as easily or as frequently. Sure, kids could theoretically pedal an analog bike up to 20 mph, but just in case you haven’t seen a phys-ed class in the US recently, let’s just say most kids aren’t going to be doing that very often.
When it comes to underage e-bike use, I’m not sure where we draw that line and whether 16 is the right age (especially since many states let kids drive cars at that age or even younger). But I do think that these laws can make parents think twice before buying their tween an electric motorcycle like a Sur Ron or Talaria and unleashing them on their local town’s sidewalks.
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Japanese equipment giant Komatsu has added a not-so-giant electric excavator to its growing lineup of battery-powered construction equipment. The new Komatsu PC20E-6 electric mini excavator promises a full day of work from a single charge.
Komatsu says the design of its latest mini excavator was informed by data sourced from more than 40,000 working days of comparably-sized diesel excavators. The company found that, in 90% of its global customers’ mini excavator deployments, these vehicles are in active use for less than 3.5 hours per day.
“This defined the target for the required, reliable working time with the excavator,” reads the Komatsu web copy. “This result makes it possible for Komatsu to offer an attractively priced machine with a performance that exactly matches the requirements.”
Keeping costs down are relatively conservative specs. Komatsu chose to power the PC20E-6 with a 23.2 kWh battery pack sending electrons to an 11 kW (~15 hp), high-torque electric motors. Not exactly super impressive on paper, but the machine has an operating weight of 2,190 kg and enough juice for up to four (4) hours of continuous operation.
More than enough, in other words, to have completed 90% of of those 40,000 work days the company analyzed.
Getting it done
If, for some reason, that four hours’ runtime isn’t enough, an on-board charging option for 230V and 3kW charging power compatible with various plug adapters is standard, with an external DC quick charger for 400V and 12 kW charging as optional. In either case, it won’t be long before the machine is back at work.
To help the later adopters sleep well about their battery-powered investments, the PC20E-6 ships with Komatsu’s E-Support maintenance program, which includes free scheduled maintenance by a Komatsu-trained technician, a 3 year/2,000 hour warranty on the machine, plus a 5 year/10,000 hour warranty on the electric driveline. The company says the battery should last 10 years.
“The Komatsu E-Support customer program is included free of charge with every market-ready electric mini excavator and offers exclusive machine support,” said Emanuele Viel, Group Manager Utility at Komatsu Europe. “The bottom line is that the risk for the end customer is significantly reduced, especially when it comes to exploring the electrification advances in the industry.”
Komatsu hasn’t released official pricing quite yet, but has revealed that the P20E-6 will begin series production this October.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Komatsu.
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Tesla has unexpectedly terminated a contractor’s contract at Gigafactory Texas, resulting in the layoff of 82 workers who were supporting the automaker’s production at the giant factory in Austin.
MPW Industrial Services Inc., an Ohio-based industrial service provider specializing in cleaning and facility management, has issued a new WARN notice, confirming that it will lay off 82 workers in Texas due to Tesla unexpectedly ending its contract with the company.
Here are the details from the WARN notice:
- State / agency: Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).
- Notice date: August 27, 2025.
- Employees affected: 82
- Likely effective date: September 1, 2025
- Context from the filing/letter: layoffs tied to an unexpected termination of a major customer contract (Tesla—Gigafactory Texas, 1 Tesla Road); positions include 61 technicians, 7 team leads, 7 supervisors, 7 managers; no bumping rights; workers not union-represented.
In April 2024, Tesla initiated waves of layoffs at the plant, resulting in the dismissal of more than 2,000 employees in Austin, Texas.
Since then, Tesla’s sales have been in a steady decline. While the automaker is expected to have a strong quarter in the US in Q3 due to the end of the tax credit, sales are expected to decline further in Q4 and the first half of 2026.
Many industry watchers have expected Tesla to initiate further layoffs due to the situation.
Electrek’s Take
We may be seeing the beginnings of a new wave of layoffs at Tesla, as the automaker typically starts with contractors.
To be fair, Tesla could also potentially end the contract unexpectedly for other reasons, but the timing does align with the need to cut costs and staff ahead of an inevitable downturn in US EV sales.
I think it’s inevitable that we start seeing some layoffs. I think Tesla will have to slow down production in the US to avoid creating an oversupply, especially in Q4-Q1.
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