Hey! No problem, community is why we’re here :-)

Soo for where I am in the US, the toughest thing is there’s basically no bicycle infrastructure between my house and the lab I work in, plus I have to cross 2 e-lane highways, so having something that is road legal with license plates, turn signals, etc was a huge requirement.

I also wanted something I could load in my truck bed and take trail riding in the Appalachian mountains, so a more aggressive suspension set-up and support for knobby tires was important to me.

These 2 requirements narrowed the field significantly, and in 2021 I ended up finding a used 2015 Zero FZ that was the perfect balance for me, at the right price.

The good news for you is that 12-20 miles should be easily doable with any electric motorcycle! Your budget will probably be the biggest dictator of what you decide to get. An electric motorcycle will cost more than a moped, but of course the low maintenance and low energy costs vs a moped are things you can add into the equation.

I’ve had the Zero for 5 years now and aside from knobby tires (which would have been unnecessary if I was ONLY commuting), I think all my running costs, “fuel”, taxes, registration, insurance, EVERYTHING, is under $300 since I bought it! It has been a great value.

The main thing I would caution you about is manufacturers like to add app-attached crap to everything now. Zero famously pissed off a TON of motorcycle folks (I’m not affected but still angry about it) when they tried to make a “pay to unlock” feature with batteries already installed in bikes. Just make sure you do a little research about the models you end up liking so you know caveats like that up front.