Zoomi Life

LONG BRANCH —Jack Grazi figured it was a no-brainer.

With gasoline prices in the stratosphere and the whole country talking about alternative energy sources, Grazi figured the electric moped’s moment had come. So far, he’s figured wrong.

The moped, a Jinglong Moto, is a Chinese import. Runs like a champ, Grazi said. Trouble is, there aren’t a whole lot of places he can run it. The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, it seems, has no room for the Moto.

Grazi got the idea for his moped on a trip to China last year.

Moped might be a bit misleading of a term, since it’s not pedal powered at all. It’s more like the old motor scooters, only electric, Grazi said.

“I try to be open to new ideas,” the 80-year-old Elberon man said. “In China, everybody was using these mopeds, and that’s what they call them. It just seemed like such a good idea. I figured why not use one at home? It just made sense.”

But Grazi soon learned that what he thought made sense wasn’t consistent with government policy.

The first cracks in Grazi’s idea began to show last year when he arrived at the state Motor Vehicle Commission office in Long Branch.

“Nobody knew how to create a license for an electric moped,” he said. “They shifted me from place to place like I was a little boy, and no one knew what to do. They finally said call Trenton.”

Then Grazi said he got an answer from someone in the East State Street headquarters of the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission: We can’t license electric mopeds.

READ MORE AT MYCENTRALJERSEY.COM…