Brisbane-based smart electric vehicle and urban transport company e-Motion Concepts says it is forming a new business unit designed to target the personal transport market for mobility in urban environments.
e-Motion Concepts has made a name for itself in the commercial slow speed electric vehicle market, such as the unveiling earlier this year of a range of all-electric three-wheeled vehicles designed to cover so-called “last mile” delivery.
The company’s new business unit will introduce a Personal Mobility Device (PMD) as the first product in its new portfolio, a three-wheeled e-scooter named ILARK which will be fully compliant with Federal and Queensland requirements and legislation, allowing it to be immediately used in Queensland.
(Other states are currently reviewing legislation with regards to PMDs, but it is expected they will follow suit soon.)
“We are very excited to have identified an exciting and innovative portfolio of electric personal transport vehicles, ranging from a sophisticated three-wheeled escooter and two electric three-wheeled moped scooters to a more conventional, competitively priced electric delivery scooter,” said Harry Proskefalas, CEO of e-Motion Concepts.
“In our search and development of urban transport solutions for people and goods, we have come across a number of innovative and exciting electric personal transport vehicle options and we felt that there is a demand in getting around the urban environment in an efficient and effective way, whilst not compromising on safety at an affordable cost,” added founder and CTO of eMC Wolfgang Roffmann.
Three other vehicles are already planned for the company’s PMD portfolio, all of which are Federally classified as mopeds and can be driven with a normal driver’s license in Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory – Victoria and New South Wales require a provisional motorcycle license as the only minimum requirement.
All of the company’s planned PMDs have swappable batteries, increasing availability and reducing time-outs with additional batteries.
“We believe that battery swap is a must for small urban transport vehicles,” explained Roffmann.
“It makes sense. Since the batteries are reasonable small and light can be handled easily. In particular for commercial applications, battery swap allows for the vehicles to be available without substantial down time.”
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.