Awesome Stuff: Goofy Looking Scooters

Innovation

from the getting-around dept

Remember the hype around the Segway before it came out? Before people even knew what it was, people talked about how they were going to “re-architect cities around it.” There were all sorts of rumors about what kind of magical device it might be… and then it came out and people saw it was a kind of googy looking scooter, with funky gyroscopes to keep it upright. It didn’t quite change history the way some predicted. However, apparently “goofy looking scooters” is becoming something of a market niche, and here are a few such projects currently being crowdfunded.

• First up, we’ve got the kubo from Lit Motors. You may recognize Lit Motors from the tremendous hype they’ve received over the past few years for a different vehicle, the C1 an astoundingly awesome looking half-motorcycle/half-electric vehicle that rides on two wheels but is nearly impossible to tip over. Apparently, while they’re still working on bringing that to life, they’ve also been working on a “side project” to create a goofy looking scooter, whose main selling point is “it has a ton of cargo space.” They describe it as “the pickup truck of scooters” and that’s probably the best way to think of it. This one just launched a few days ago, but has already brought in about 10% of its $300,000 goal. The pricing of these scooters seems a bit steep, frankly, as it starts at $5k to get one. I may not be the target market, but even if I was a scooter rider, how often do I really need huge storage? Then again, I’m not a pickup truck driver either, so maybe I’m just not the right person for this.
• Next up, we’ve got the Acton M Scooter, a goofy looking electric scooter whose main selling point is that you have the choice of sitting or standing when you ride it. I hadn’t realized this was a big concern for scooter riders, but having choices can be a good thing. Part of the idea is that it’s also fairly compact, so you can store it pretty easily. At a $999 starting price, it’ll run you 1/5 the kubo above, though you’re trading the storage space for that sit/stand option. This project is seeking $55,000 and they’re just a bit short, with a week and a half to go. It looks like they’re close enough that they’ll probably reach the target, but it might be close.
• Hey, remember, that not all scooters are powered by motors. That brings us to our final goofy looking scooter: the Bowboard, which takes your basic kickscooter and adds a… “bow” arch thing to it, to propel the scooter by pushing the bow down with your weight. It’s… um… tough to describe without watching the video. As goofy as it looks to ride, I will admit it looks like quite a bit of fun too. These are starting at $299, which is certainly a bit more than your run of the mill Razor kick scooter, but obviously this is something more than that (and the pricing puts it on par with some basic electric powered scooters). Still, so far this project looks like it might have trouble hitting its goal. They need $150,000 and are only around 5% after over a week, with a little less than a month to go. Perhaps the project will get some shot of publicity, but otherwise it might be difficult to make up that gap.

That’s all for this week. Next week, we promise that whatever we put in the awesome stuff will not include any description of something being “the pickup truck of x.”

Filed Under: awesome stuff, scooters