Packable Electric Scooter

While living in San Jose, California and commuting crowded trains, I found that I was disappointed with existing “last-mile” transportation options. I recognized that an electric scooter would be more compact and compatible with work clothes than a bicycle, but I was also concerned about storing the scooter on the train or at my destination. I challenged myself to design and build an electric scooter that could fold to be small enough to fit inside a normal book-bag along with other standard items such as a laptop and a few books.

I succeeded in building a scooter that could fold to the size of a large textbook, and that also had the power to ride up a 15% grade at 15 mph (24kph) carrying 200lb (90kg). In the end, I hit my original target specs, but more development would be needed to smooth out the ride given the diminutive wheels. Project on Hackaday