Personally, I care more about power limits and speed caps then whether or not you need to pedal it. But the law seems pretty clear on the pedaling issue in this case. The confusion seems to be on the part of the owner.

That is similar to a problem we're having in my state, though. If something falls into the "moped" category, it has to be registered, but the DMV won't register these low-powered, scooter things, so they become impossible to use legally, since they don't meet the state definition of e-bike, but they don't meet the Motor Vehicle department definition of moped. From an ecological standpoint and a safety standpoint, I'd much rather see something like this out there instead of higher powered options, and even better if it's replacing a car, but the law is slow to catch up.