---
type: "Bill"
title: "Neighborhood electric vehicles."
description: "Existing law defines \"low-speed vehicle\" for purposes of the Vehicle Code as a motor vehicle, other than a motor truck, with 4 wheels that is capable of a minimum speed of 20 miles per hour and a maximum speed of 25 miles per hour on a paved level surface and that has a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 3,000 pounds. Existing law imposes certain restrictions on the use of low-speed vehicles on public streets and highways, and generally requires an operator of a low-speed vehicle to have a driver's license. A low-speed vehicle is also known as a neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) . A violation of the Vehicle Code is an infraction, unless otherwise specified."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20112012"
identifier: "AB 61"
citation: "California AB 61 (20112012)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Neighborhood electric vehicles."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jeffries"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 20
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2010-12-07"
last_action: "2011-08-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/370f2013-d06a-4a53-9b09-2004a69ad4da"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB61"
source_hash: "f036c27132897b43a9aab585fb3c686a7f2820ad0e462c2db42ba2308f7e53f5"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 61 (20112012) — Neighborhood electric vehicles.

Existing law defines "low-speed vehicle" for purposes of the Vehicle Code as a motor vehicle, other than a motor truck, with 4 wheels that is capable of a minimum speed of 20 miles per hour and a maximum speed of 25 miles per hour on a paved level surface and that has a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 3,000 pounds. Existing law imposes certain restrictions on the use of low-speed vehicles on public streets and highways, and generally requires an operator of a low-speed vehicle to have a driver's license. A low-speed vehicle is also known as a neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) . A violation of the Vehicle Code is an infraction, unless otherwise specified.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **12/07/10 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB61&version=20110AB6199INT)
2. **03/08/11 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB61&version=20110AB6198AMD)
3. **08/04/11 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB61&version=20110AB6196CHP)
4. **AB61** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB61)
5. **07/13/11 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB61&version=20110AB6197ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass, to Consent Calendar. — **16–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations. — **8–1** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and re-refer to Committee on Appropriations with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. — **13–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 61 JEFFRIES Consent Calendar Second Day — **60–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading AB61 Jeffries By Emmerson — **36–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Jeffries — primary (person)
- Emmerson — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2010-12-07** Introduced. To print. `introduction`
- **2010-12-08** From printer. May be heard in committee January 7.
- **2011-01-03** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2011-01-27** Referred to Com. on TRANS. `referral-committee`
- **2011-03-08** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on TRANS. Read second time and amended. `reading-2, amendment-introduction, reading-1, amendment-passage`
- **2011-03-09** Re-referred to Com. on TRANS. `referral-committee`
- **2011-03-22** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: to consent calendar. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (March 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-04-06** From committee: Do pass. To consent calendar. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (April 6). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-04-07** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-04-14** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 60. Noes 0. Page 981.) `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-04-14** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2011-05-12** Referred to Com. on T. & H. `referral-committee`
- **2011-06-08** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 1.) (June 7). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-06-27** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage`
- **2011-06-28** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-07-11** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 36. Noes 0. Page 1782.). `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-07-11** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2011-07-25** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 1:30 p.m.
- **2011-08-04** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2011-08-04** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 170, Statutes of 2011.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/370f2013-d06a-4a53-9b09-2004a69ad4da`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).