Unicorn Promises to Do Away with Faulty E-scooter Ridesharing Worldwide

After all, because there are downsides to one thing or another, a cycle of continuous improvement is created. The Unicorn is an urban mobility scooter and system that is meant to improve and even fix some of the issues that exist with this scooter boom.

But before we get into those problems, let’s have an overall look at the design. Right from the start we can see that it looks a bit different from other push scooters in that it includes that extra step as part of the foot board. That heavy duty steering column also houses the batteries for the scooter, while a slightly larger front wheel, which also houses the motor, helps you get past any city-oriented obstacles.

So, let’s start with that extra step. Why do anything like this? Well, this extra step offers a number of purposes, the first of which, is to carry your groceries. The scooter is even able to adopt a sort of shopping bag hook on the steering column to make it easier to ride while carrying goods. Next, this step is even strong enough to hold another occupant, we just don’t know how large. In the video and photos in the gallery, the designers seem to have oriented the weight limit toward that of a child.

But is this motor strong enough to carry two humans? Apparently so. This no-name motor is capable of kicking out a peak 750W of power. And the best thing, to meet more than one market, that power can be adjusted depending on the destination country’s regulations.

Strap on a 36V 630Wh battery, as big as the steering column, because it’s full of batteries, and you can cruise with this e-scooter for a good 50 miles (80km). Another benefit of this battery is that it can be swapped once it inevitably gives out. Because other scooters on our streets utilize an integrated battery, once it goes, the scooter has to go, usually ending up in a pile of metal in some scrapyard. The Unicorn is unique in that the scooter body can continue to be used long after a battery pack has given out.

To make sure that frame can outlive more than one battery, it has been created from weatherproof materials and coatings, although we haven’t been told what sort of materials.

Another aspect of the Unicorn is a charging system that distributes hubs throughout a city. These hubs act as a place to charge the scooters, but also to store the scooters and to make them easily accessible. That access is also offered via an app, as with most other scooters nowadays. Just open the app and find a scooter nearby via GPS and get to it. You’ll then probably scan a QR code as with most other systems and enjoy.

Once you hop on, you’ll find a place to put your device for navigations purposes, and a thumb throttle that is activated just by pressing down on either side of the handlebars. But how’s braking covered? We have no idea, but we can see a disc brake on the back wheel.

Honestly, I'd love to see this design roaming around my streets. It does offer the feeling of a scooter that will get you to where you need to go.