I follow a lot of bicycle legislation in California, and this bill is no different. In short, this bill -- if it passes as-is -- would create the new category of "eMotos" for things that today are otherwise grouped together with the broad class that is motorcycles (CVC 400). This categorization would exist alongside other categories such as "mopeds/motorized bicycle" (CVC 406), "bicycle" (CVC 231), and "electric bicycle" (CVC 312.5). Yeah, it's kinda confusing, all these similar names.
Under California law, an electric bicycle is a subset of bicycle, and are "devices" rather than "vehicles". This makes them distinct from trailers and specifically "motor vehicles", which includes automobiles and motorcycles. Strangely enough, a moped (aka motorized bicycle; which is different than an ebike) is also a "device", making it not subject to motor vehicle insurance requirements. I've written about mopeds before.
With that in mind, a new category that carves out "electric two-wheeled device built on a bicycle infrastructure that does not have pedals" serves to lessen the registration burden. Without this bill, a Surron-like eMoto is either a motorcycle with insurance and full registration requirements, or an off-highway dirt bike subject to annual OHV registration tags. The new eMoto category would likely be akin to moped plates, which are a one-time fee to obtain but helps in identifying and recovering if stolen. Note: fully-registered automobiles and motorcycles, plus mopeds with plates, do not need separate OHV tags to use OHV facilities.
The status quo is that most eMotos today are probably being ridden on-street without registration, or off-highway at places like state OHV parks but they're being cited for not having OHV tags. This bill does nothing for the first issue, but resolves the second issue. People can, should, and do buy eMotos for them or their children to ride off-highway, and the law should support recreation like that. We have numerous OHV parks for exactly this purpose.
A different comment suggested that this bill attempts to address on-street use of illegal ebikes. That is wrong, and the bill's text is quite clear about that. Machines that are outside the definition of ebikes are automatically motorcycles, and thus are illegal on-street or off-highway when ridden without registration. This bill addresses the latter.