Why no GPS based limits?

[Redbikejohn]

Surely in this day and age of cheap electronics the manufacturers could limit the bike when on public roads but remove that restriction once you got off road into woods and mountains etc. Then the speed/assistance would be set to level the motor could withstand. The market for boosters to daft speeds would be very small.
Or do I have rose tinted glasses on?

 

[DieBoy]

limit the bike when on public roads but remove that restriction once you got off road into woods and mountains etc

That's very specific to the jurisdiction one is in.

For example, in my part of the world you can legally walk or cycle in any forest (with some commonsense rules), including privately owned. Pedelecs (25kmh assist) such as emtbs are legally classed the same as pushbikes so are also allowed, which is very nice.

In this case if the ebike became derestricted offroad it would be legally equivalent to a motorbike and thus no longer officially allowed.

Note you can legally ride derestricted offroad if you have the landowners permission. Which unless you're lucky enough to own your own mountain, means in practice nowhere (farmers excepted).

Now with the GPS you could in theory enable the feature depending on current country location. That would however require manufacturers to research the laws of 143 countries, deal with edge cases (in country X you can ride derestricted here but not here), maintain up-to-date maps, push changes as laws change, etc.
When there's an error and someone rides unintentionally derestricted where they shouldn't, who is liable, especially if an accident occurs?

In practice a non-starter.

 

[Mikerb]

the same applies in the UK.