Pollution and traffic congestion are among the biggest issues commuters in large urban environments face on the daily. With good health and precious time not being on the list of things you’re willing to easily part with, here’s a possible sliver of hope.
Last-mile solutions have been gaining popularity in recent years, as more electric vehicle makers are focusing on this niche of the market, promising a considerable decrease in pollution and, just as importantly, reducing time spent in traffic. However, many of these electric vehicles, whether large or small, still leave one issue unsolved: maneuverability.
To put it differently: what are you to do with your e-bike or e-scooter when you’re to board public transport or have already arrived at your destination place? Rental services like Bird and Lime may have contributed to reducing commuting times and pollution, but they added to the issue of overcrowding because people just leave them on the street or pavement.
This is how the idea for foldable EVs / last-minute solutions came to be. Right now, there aren’t as many of them as we’d probably like to see, and many of them are still too big or heavy, handle with difficulty or are a pain to carry, as opposed to riding. More elegant, more compact and lighter products are in the making – and this foldable Switch e-scooter could be one of them.
For the time being, it’s just a concept from designers Adil Lokhandwala, Adhithya Vishnu M, Aditya Tupe and Amit Mirchandani of Lucid Design. However, the Lucid website notes that the product is “coming soon,” which could mean that it’s already attracted enough attention to be produced.
Photo: Lucid Design
Even as a concept, it’s an outstanding e-scooter. Not only is it light enough to be carried on the back without issue, but it’s very compact and elegant in form. It is truly a portable scooter, so here’s to hoping portability doesn’t come at the cost of reliability.
Switch comes with a flat-pack mechanism that allows it to collapse onto itself, fold and then be attached to a backpack. Slide the telescoping handlebar down, fold the handles, fold the scooter and presto. This virtually does away with the issue of maneuverability, parking space and even storage space, making it sleek enough to blend into the rider’s everyday activities. Much like a (presumably light) backpack does.
To achieve this sleek form factor and add extra ease of use, designers have integrated braking and acceleration into the handlebars. Unlocking is done by pressing a fingerprint-enabled button under the handlebars, while the integrated display offers stats like estimated range left, odometer, current time, ETA, and GPS navigation and directions.
Smart connectivity through a dedicated app would offer owners some peace of mind, by letting them know where the e-scooter is at all times. Integrated front light and taillight would maximize visibility on the road.
Photo: Lucid Design
Noting that they didn’t want owners’ lives to revolve around charging of the Switch foldable e-scooter, designers imagined it with a high-capacity swappable battery. This way, they can ride until they’re out of juice and simply pull over to a Switch charge station and get a fully-charged one, dropping the empty one off. This particular details indicates that Switch will be used with shared mobility platforms, in the manner of the aforementioned Lime and Bird scooters.
This being just a concept for the time being, more specific details (like estimated range, maximum speed or total weight capacity) have not been included with the renderings. However, if it ever becomes reality, as the note on the Lucid Design website seems to indicate, they will be disclosed in due time.
These details, along with the price, will make the difference when choosing between a clean and fast commute, and a gas-guzzling, time-consuming one.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News