Sleek scooters designed to transform urban commute

Scooters are like the motorbike’s friendly little brother! They are easier to ride, sleek, and also seem more approachable! Weaving through traffic is super easy with them, letting you finally bid adieu to traffic jams. And if you choose an electric scooter as your preferred means of transportation, then you’re also cutting down on fossil-fuel consumption, and being a major support to planet Earth. In an ode to scooters and their immense functionality, we’ve curated a collection of innovative and nifty scooter designs that seem to be slowly taking over the automotive industry. Ride on!

1. The Stilride Scooter

Swedish startup Stilride launched an electric scooter made from what they call “industrial origami.” Instead of over a hundred separate parts, the Stilride scooter whittles the number down to about 15. The main body of the scooter comes from just a few sheets of steel that are folded by a robotic arm. There are several benefits to this rather innovative process, starting with the reduction of wasted material. The process also takes up less energy, which means fewer fossil fuels are burned during the manufacturing of these scooters.

2. The Rena Max e-scooter

This is the Rena Max e-scooter which definitely shines out in the crowd with its radical design. The fully electric scooter is focused on the needs of the Middle-Eastern and North African delivery personnel. Given its origins, that strategy is absolutely understandable. At the heart, it is an outright delivery platform, and Barq developed this last-mile delivery concept in collaboration with Jahez (A Saudi delivery platform), and Americana (a Kuwaiti food group). The latter has a strong presence in the MENA region with over 1200 food and beverage outlets. Since we are talking of delivery services, the focus is also on digitally lockable carry box that has temperature control, modular shelving, and insulation. The climate-controlled environment ensured the freshness of the food or beverage being delivered.

3. The SMEG Futro

Relying heavily on the Vespa (and even SMEG’s) soft, rounded, colorful, fun-loving image, the SMEG Futro is an e-scooter concept that embodies the feeling of driving down to the beach, the park, or the lake for a lazy Sunday. The scooter’s curved form language is a direct inspiration of SMEG’s own design styles and leans heavily into the golden age of Italian automotive design (when companies like Vespa and Lambretta came to be), while its side panels open up to reveal a whole host of picnic items and tiny kitchen appliances, all the way from tiffins and thermoses to even a toaster and wine cooler!

4. The Justin Bieber X Vespa scooter

Treading on his own experience riding the iconic scooter, Bieber coated his design in optic white livery on the exterior panels and rims for a sleek look to go with the scooter’s feathery light frame. Then, he added his own bad boy flair with a flame decal that’s etched across the scooter’s body. The Justin Bieber X Vespa scooter design is also available in 50, 100, and 100cc guises. Located right between the two handlebars, a full-color digital display syncs with the rider’s smartphone to play music and adjust the LED light’s brightness and color tones. Additionally, Bieber’s collaboration includes gloves, a driving bag, and a matching flame-printed helmet for riders to scoot in style.

5. The NIU NQi GT/S

The custom wooden NQi GT/S obviously isn’t trying to make a point about sustainability or environmental friendliness. It’s an experiment in working with wood as an automotive material, and from the looks of it, I wholeheartedly approve! With an aesthetic that reminds me a lot of automotive clay, the custom NIU moped looks decidedly eclectic, earthy, and like an absolute art-piece. Every single element of its body is made by hand from blocks of wood that were finished and assembled in place, and finally finished with brass accents that bring the moped alive, with an old-meets-new steampunk vibe!

6. Mopet

Mopet is a pet-friendly e-scooter with an integrated storage compartment so small dogs can come along with you on rides in a secure crate. There aren’t many options for dog owners to get around cities with their little pup in tow. Resolving to pulling their dogs on leashes or stowing smaller pups inside bicycle baskets, the options are either inconvenient or unsafe. Providing a solution for dog owners to crate their dogs around with them, Mopet is an electric scooter design that integrates a spacious and secure storage compartment where owners can keep their dogs while they scoot around from place to place.

7. The Gyro Canopy e

With a canopy that provides shelter against rain or even direct sun in some cases, the Gyro Canopy e is Honda’s revamp of its popular Gyro three-wheeled business-scooter line. The new Canopy e looks rather similar to a concept Honda debuted back at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, but now features a much more detailed design that looks like the company’s serious about putting the vehicle into production. Notably, the Canopy e even comes with an electric powertrain, and more importantly, swappable batteries that allow delivery personnel to swiftly and easily swap out batteries instead of waiting to recharge them.

8. BeoSpeed

Aiming to capture the electronics company’s laser focus on the details, Martini outfitted BeoSpeed with a polished, clean exterior that asserts its durable, hefty weight with a stainless steel coat. Striking a mix between modern and classic, BeoSpeed dons natural leather seating and handlebars reminiscent of Bang & Olufsen’s headphone cushions. Working Bang & Olufsen’s curated sophistication into BeoSpeed, the electric scooter features smooth edges, minimally adorned wheels, and stripped-back leather accents that give it a retro and slicked-back personality. Soft, warm headlights and wheel lights are subdued with leather straps and metal stencils, giving the scooter an elusive edge while coasting through night-dark city streets.

9. The Uber Balance

The Uber Balance may seem like a clever fusion of a scooter and the stabilizer rig often used with video cameras, but honestly, it’s an extremely natural pairing if you ask me. Gimbals/stabilizers have been used on boats and yachts to prevent them from tipping over on rough waters, and even if you look strictly at the domain of dining and hospitality, bartenders have perfected the ability to perform tricks while flipping bottles, trays, glasses without getting your drink to tip over.

10. BMW Motorrad e-scooter concept

Designed to look almost like the successor to BMW’s Concept Link from 2017, the e-scooter by Carota Design uses a similar CMF, but with leaner, lighter, and narrower forms. The matte-finish metal panels look distinctly like something from BMW’s playbook, while those orange accents around the windscreen give the e-scooter the pop of color it needs. The E-scooter’s front comes with paneling that conceals the rider’s legs, pretty emblematic of scooter designs, while the motor and battery seem to reside in the space in front of the rear wheel. Carota’s design features a cantilever seat that cuts down on the boot storage but provides a loop on the left to secure your helmet in place.