Electric motorcycles flood Havana amid diesel shortages

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ
Associated Press

HAVANA (AP) — The young people come and go on their electric motorcycles at this highway outside Cuba’s capital where they perform stunts and talk about their two-wheelers, which would be largely silent if it weren’t for the music blasting from speakers. Cuba has been flooded in recent years with “motorinas,” as the electric scooters are called, which have been promoted by the government as efficient alternatives amid extreme fuel shortages and as a solution to the country’s transportation problems. Authorities permitted their importation last decade – Cubans cannot import motorcycles with gasoline or diesel engines – and since then about 300,000 of them have circulated on the island.