Urban transport needs more efficient and greener method, to solve the “first and last mile” problems, interchange of relatively slow public transportation, traffic congestion and pollution, and insufficient or distant parking. Tourists also face limited sightseeing time and long tiring walks. Piggybacking portable electric vehicles in intermodal passenger transport is the most effective solution, enabling a much longer range of connection and thus seamless point-to-point fast traveling, making public transport much more accessible and several times larger in service coverage, and opening up faster routes. Besides compactness, traveling easily up bridges, corridors, tunnels and indoors with elevators or escalators all in 3D further alleviate the traffic on the ground level.
Inventors and the E-scooter (Left: Mr Boris Yim, Right: Mr Lawrence Cheung)
The project titled “Ultra-Portable Folding Electric Kick Scooter” has been shortlisted by HKU DreamCatchers 100K and also selected by the Applied Science and Technology Research Institute in Science Park into its entrepreneurship fellow program for pre-incubation. The project was initiates by Mr Lawrence Cheung, a year 4 undergrad student in Mechanical Engineering in the University of Hong Kong, and Mr Boris Yim, a PhD candidate in aerospace engineering in Tsinghua University. With help from Mr Carlos Ma and Mr Christopher Lee, who are both PhD candidate in engineering faculty, a new type of e-scooter had been invented.
This e-scooter is a portable battery electric vehicle which can be easily piggybacked on various public transport or cars after some folding. As relatively safe, easy, flexible, lightweight, foldable, portable, fast motorized vehicles, e-scooters are best for widespread private use in their speed class (<40kph), and much better than bicycle-sharing systems even financially. They let users maintain normal standing forward posture, to allow normal use in skirts and high heels too. They are extremely convenient to get on and off, replacing the original need to walk slowly over smooth ground sections while not being held back by steps. There is no need to park but going indoors and upstairs for charging anywhere with shelter, and no need to lock or worry about being stolen. Our project focuses on the optimum design of ultra-portable folding e-scooters that can fold as small as a backpack for carrying or as a trolley for easy pulling with a design to carry two persons, won’t fall and is lighter, and even let users release both hands safely while scooting, plus other improvements to make mass adoption possible. The design is patent pending with proof of concept prototypes made and test driven. It can enable the world to enjoy greatly improved personal mobility and reduce global warming.
The portable E-scooter