If not for the music blasting from speakers, the motorcycles racing and performing stunts on the highway outside Cuba's capital of Havana would be almost silent.
The island nation has seen an influx of "motorinas", as the electric scooters are dubbed, in recent years, with 300,000 of them circulating nationwide.
Cuban authorities permitted their importation last decade and the government has promoted them as an alternative to cars and public transport amid extreme gas and diesel shortages.
The National Transit Directorate's head of vehicle registry Colonel Mario Rios Labrada said in comparison there were an estimated 500,000 cars.
The motorcycles can cost between $US2,000 and $US5,000 ($2,900-7,200), with many imported from China through Panama.
Cuban officials said a locally made electric motorcycle called the Minerva was being produced at an old bicycle manufacturing warehouse in Villa Clara.
"There is an 'outbreak' of electric motorcycles, everyone likes them," said 20-year-old rider Ernesto José Salazar.
"We got to meet up with 200 motorcycles, honking and listening to music."
Young riders, meeting through social media, spend hours discussing the benefits of a battery or where to buy tires or find the best workshop.
The fuel shortages plaguing Cuban drivers also hinders the electricity generators feeding the nation's power grid, which collapsed in June.
Electric scooter drivers recharged the batteries through normal power sockets but have been left out of luck during power outages.
Oil shortages have been caused by difficulties in Venezuela – an ally and supplier of the island – and US sanctions.
The public transport system has also been affected by shortages of parts to repair broken down buses.
Ministry of Energy and Mines strategy director Ramsés Montes Calzadilla said in an interview with news website Cubadebate that electricity would "always be cheaper" than diesel and gas.
"In addition, electric motors are much more efficient than combustion engines, you can save up to 70 per cent of the cost of fuel," he said.
However, as the electric motorcycles change Cuba's urban landscape they also create challenges.
The batteries tend to catch fire and their relative silence, coupled with driver inexperience, has caused traffic accidents.
The latest Fire Department figures indicated in the first half of 2020 there were 263 fires from motorcycles with gel or lithium batteries.
It was in stark contrast to 2019, when there were 208 fires in the entire year.
ABC/AP
