Hyundai Updates Its Scooter Game On With New Folding Concept

Automakers of all stripes appear to enjoy planning for a future where people keep little electric scooters in – or use them in addition to – their cars. Some of the many concepts we’ve seen over the years are VW’s Cityskater and Streetmate options, Toyota’s Kick and Ford’s Spin. Hyundai showed a foldable version of an Ioniq-branded scooter at CES in 2017 and then took it to another level by filing some patents for the device the following year.

The answer to how Hyundai wants to solve the “last mile” question with a little moving platform seems to be a bit closer to an answer now that the automaker announced a revamped scooter prototype this week. The new rear-wheel drive EV has a range of over 12 miles thanks to a 10-5 Ah lithium battery and a top speed of 12 miles an hour.

The video you can see below shows that part of the concept involves not storing the scooter in the car’s cabin, but in little hideaway compartments on the outside or in the door panel. This is a much better idea than leaving them scattered around busy urban streets – especially in situations where they might become dangerous flying objects – and, even better, when the scooter is docked in the car, it charges up. That way, you’ll always be ready to go after you drive as close as you can to your destination and scoot the rest of the way. I think the best use case is when you’ve got multiple places to go in an urban area and don’t have time to walk to all of them.

There are a number of improvements to Hyundai’s new scooter, compared to the 2017 version. As mentioned above, it’s now RWD, which the company says is “key in enhancing safety and stability,” since more weight is now placed closer to the rear. The front wheel now also has a small suspension joint for a smoother ride. The scooter weighs around 17 pounds and also has a digital speedometer and battery charge level display, as well as head- and taillights.

Future updates could add in a regenerative braking system that could increase the scooter’s range by seven percent. While nothing specific was announced just yet as far as this scooter actually being available from Hyundai, the company did say that this vehicle-mounted personal scooter concept is being considered for mounting on a future Hyundai or Kia production vehicles. I can dig it.