Urban Transport

Shimizu is working on what it says will be the world's smallest electric scooter. The 10-lb Arma scooter folds to the length and width of a piece of printer paper to carry in a messenger bag or work as its own mini-briefcase.

Remember back before smartphones existed, when you had to buy a separate cell phone, camera, music player, calculator and calendar? Well, the Utility Personal Transporter may one day do for electric vehicles what smartphones did for gadgets.

When it comes to electric vehicles, there's definitely a gap between small, simple ebikes and larger, costlier electric cars. The new-and-improved Veemo velomobile is intended to firmly fill that niche – and I recently got to try it out for myself.

Last year, Australia's N Plus Holdings Pty Ltd launched a carbon-fiber electric scooter with licensed livery from Red Bull Racing. Now Hong Kong-based Asia Kingston has done the same for the RS 1200 AT e-scoot in Europe.

Electric longboards definitely track better than shorter e-skateboards, making them great for commuting … but they are harder to carry and store. The speedy Corsair F4U addresses that shortcoming with what looks like a quick and easy folding system.

While cargo ebikes can be used to haul goods around town, a pedal-powered small van would better suit inner-city delivery businesses. Germany's Antric has just launched a four-wheeled cargo box that's rated to haul a full Euro pallet per trip.

Though still not used in mainstream manufacturing, we've seen bike builders make use of bamboo for a number of years. My Boo tapped bamboo and flax for a cargo ebike back in May, and now the Bamboo Bicycle Club is working on a pedal-assist cargo trike.

Back in 2020, Brooklyn's Civilized Cycles launched a low-step ebike called the Model 1 that features expandable hardshell panniers on either side of the rear wheel. For its next project, the company is aiming to haul significantly more cargo.

Taiwan-based e-mobility outfit Gogoro is taking its battery-swapping electric scooters out beyond the city limits with the introduction of the CrossOver SmartScooter, which the company is calling the first two-wheel SUV.

Infinite Machine has crafted an angular new electric scooter sure to grab hold of eyes while leaving ears in blissful silence. The P1 scooter zips around cities for up to 60 miles per charge, carrying cargo via a fully modular accessory system.

Slovakia's Patak Motors has opened the order books for an electric roadster billed as the "reinvention of the gentleman's car." The stylish microcar has a top speed of 130 km/h and a per-charge range of up to 250 km.

Honda has announced a 210-km electrified version of its cute-but-capable gas-powered N-Van, as part of the company's mission to sell only electric vehicles in Japan by 2030.

UK startup Bo has spent the last couple of years working on the design and technology for "the world's most sophisticated micro-mobility vehicle," and is now moving to production of the stunning Bo M electric scoot.

Honda will release a $995 transportation appliance in November with zero emissions and an ultra-compact foldable design. With a low entry price and Honda reliability, the Motocompacto might finally kickstart the "last mile" transport revolution.

We first came across the beautifully weird electric scoot/moto thing known as the JackRabbit back in 2018. An update followed a couple of years later, and now a bigger, more powerful, more capable "mini electric motorbike" has launched.