E-Floater, Solar-Powered Electric Scooter That Weighs Less Than 12 Kilograms
BASF and Floatility recently introduced a lightweight, solar-powered, electric scooter called the e-floater. The electric scooter weighs less than 12 kilograms (27 pounds). Urban mobility could hardly be more sustainable… wait, could it be more sustainable?
The lightweight solar-powered scooter was created with more than 80% composite and plastic materials. BASF reports that the plastic materials enable design freedom and streamlined construction. Jointly developed by BASF and Floatility, it is supposed to give commuters the sensation of floating. Thus, its name (e-floater).
“This is a perfect example of how we cooperate with our partners to fully unfold the strengths of our innovative materials. The e-floater combines stability, durability and safety with an exciting, functional design,” said Andy Postlethwaite, Senior Vice President, Performance Materials Asia Pacific, BASF.
Versatility in the plastic materials from BASF adds to their substantial support and development capabilities. A BASF news release states:
Molding multiple parts to create complex shapes with plastic materials enables design freedom and the streamlined construction of the ‘e-floater’. Various grades of glass fiber reinforced will be used for most of the e-floater’s structure: While the mineral-filled Ultramid® B3M6 is used for the parts where low warpage is crucial, the impact modified Ultramid® B3ZG8 combines toughness and stiffness in a way that is favorable for structural parts that have to resist crash-loads. The surface-improved Ultramid® B3G10 SI offers high surface quality to the parts despite its high fiber content. The reinforcement for front body and deck will be made with the new Ultracom™ composite materials to ensure stability.
Together with Ultralaminate™ B3WG13, a thermoplastic laminate and the adapted overmolding compound Ultramid® B3WG12 COM, BASF also offers its processing and designing support for the development of continuous fiber reinforced parts. Tires and handlebars made with BASF’s TPU Elastollan® will provide a good grip and smooth floating.
No more long walking gaps (not that those are bad) on your last leg home from the city center or the nearest public transport stop — just step on the scooter and “float” along.
“The cooperation with BASF enables us to develop a state-of-the-art short distance urban mobility solution to provide mobility-on-demand for the future. In this way, the e-floater will play a key role in making short journeys more convenient, quick, affordable and sustainable,” Oliver Risse, Founder and CEO of Floatility, said.
Amazingly, BASF celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2015. This was a company built to last. It is “rolling out a global co-creation program with partners on the topics of energy, food, and urban living.”
Some folks, especially in Europe, like to tuck a scooter in the back of their car, or simply their backpack if they prefer public transport. Why? Christopher DeMorro explains well in “Mini Debuts Electric Scooter Instead of Electric Car.” Here’s a piece of that: “In places like New York, Paris, and Beijing, where car bans are talked about with increasing frequency, the idea of combining scooters and bikes with cars seems to be catching on with European automakers. It wasn’t long ago that Smart debuted its own line of e-bikes and scooters to supplement its little city cars, and apparently the engineers at MINI thought it was a good enough idea to take for themselves.”
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UNU Scooter Has Vintage Looks, Portable Battery
Image: BASF
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