Apex Electric Trike Brings Fresh yet Classic Spin to Urban Mobility

The project you see here is one of those worth mentioning. Why? Well, it’s simple. It’s theoretically easy to use, and it’s meant to be a solution to an age-old problem, pollution. The mind behind the design you see, which has been dubbed Apex, is industrial designer Juan Simón Alvarez Valencia of Bogota, Colombia. To help make his hometown a cleaner place, the Apex was born.

Before you go searching the WWW for pricing on this ride, don’t waste your time. For the time being, this machine is only a concept and will remain that way until someone falls in love with its functionality and design. For the time being, time to visit imagination land.

The Apex is a vehicle meant to stop the pollution left behind by combustion fuels. These days, that’s done with an electric drivetrain, so the Apex is also an EV. The thing is that the designer is very hush-hush about which buttons do what on this trike. That mostly leaves room for interpretation based on experience.

One thing you can clearly see is the motor system or drivetrain. Since it's electric, there’s no need for a chain, as you would find on electric pedal-assist bikes, leading to a very clean-cut look. In the rear wheel, you can also spot a hub motor. How powerful or how fast you’ll fly with it is, once again, unavailable information. This, however, makes sense seeing as how no one has stepped forward with the cash to build the Apex.

To power the motor, a battery pack must be available. Where you’ll find the battery pack is a bit tricky. At first, you might think the battery is housed right above the front wheels. Nope, that's just a simple basket in which to put your groceries or backpack. Heck, toss your child in there and give him or her an awesome afternoon ride.

You might think the battery is hidden underneath the basket; well, keep trying. If you guessed that the battery is placed in front of the rider, between his or her legs, you've guessed it. If this component wasn’t placed where it is, this trike would look horrid, not to mention it would lack structural integrity. However, that single component ties things off neatly. Oh, and don’t even ask about power levels here either because nothing is mentioned.

Now for the fun bit. What sets the Apex apart from traditional trikes you’re used to is the way it’s steered. Instead of a classic fork, steering tube, stem, and handlebar setup, you just grab hold of the bars that create the frame for the basket. Now to turn, all you’ve got to do is lean. Using a parallelogram linkage, the Apex uses the body's natural movements to take a turn. It mimics the movements of a classic two-wheeler, but has the stability of a three-wheeler. For a rider of any experience and age, it should be an easy and fun ride.

As urban mobility is another key point behind the design, the Apex can do the unthinkable—fold. Mind you, the extent to which this trinket can achieve said folding, is not really worth mentioning.

As for myself, I'd like to go for a spin on something like this. Now that I think about it, ideas like these already exist and are becoming more readily available. But will you ever get to see a real version of the Apex? Probably not.