Posted 09.23.2010 at 5:21 pm
12 Comments
Mini Scooter E
One of three new Mini Scooter E designs unveiled during London's Fashion Week. BMW will showcase the electric scooter prototypes at the Paris Motor Show next month.
via Wired
Just ahead of the Paris Motor Show, BMW has unveiled its new electric scooter prototype, the Mini Scooter E, which plugs in to a standard household electrical outlet and uses a smartphone for a key.
BMW unveiled the Mini scooter during London’s Fashion Week, leaving no doubt about their targeted trendy audience. As Autopia points out, the automaker brags that its scooter is “spontaneous, flexible and CO2-free.”
The scooter comes in three styles: A two-seater with the same color scheme as the Mini-E electric car; “Mod,” a nod to British 1960s pop culture; and a single-seater “purist” model. There are no concrete plans to actually build and sell them yet, however.
The scooter has some pretty cool features, including a snap-on adapter for your smartphone, which serves as your ignition key. The smartphone then becomes the scooter’s display and control mechanism.
Mini even plans to offer a smartphone app that can tell you when other Mini Scooter Es are in the vicinity, and the scooter will automatically flash its headlight in a self-righteous greeting.
So far, the best feature seems to be the on-board power cord, which you can plug into an electrical outlet anywhere in your hipster pad. No worrying about the lack of electric vehicle charging stations.
Smart will also unveil an electric scooter at the Paris show, which runs Oct. 2 -17. Their concept is expected to have an airbag, according to CNET.
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Meh. . .
Why not tell something important like miles/charge, charging time, cost. Instead you tell us its controlled by a cell phone, who cares about that.
First they tell me not to text while driving - then they don't let me start the scooter until my phone is out of my pocket. I'm getting mixed messages here...
Does it stop if you have your hand over the antenna?
LOL @QIII
I pretty much did laugh out loud and everyone looked at me like wtf dude stfu....and then i showed the article and post and all the iphone 4 heads were like its not true i got this cover on my phone i can make calls just fine and my favorite if you take any phone and cover up the antenna you can't make calls. Well i cover mine up completely with my entire body and i can still use my blue tooth and am making calls right now and its a LG DARE!!!! WHAT NOW APPLE!!!! FACE TIME THAT!!
Delkomatic - You denigration of the English language is likely the greatest debunker yet to increasing complexity in biologic systems through evolution.
An article about a scooter with no miles/charge, charge time/volumn, and speed is an article about an interface and and smartphone application, not a scooter.
Urban roads (especially in the US) tend to have ever increasing amounts of nasty potholes. And I mean NASTY potholes! These wheels are way too small to avoid risking your front wheel getting stuck in one of them.
The target group here (I presume affluent, eco-conscious urbanites, with the latest iPhones) might be willing to pay a premium for a BMW scooter but won't compromise on safety.
Funny enough, even the (self proclaimed) 'smart' scooter boosts no larger wheels either, a design flaw which I find to be rather not-so-smart.
"Learn to Live / Live to Learn"
Alexander von Humboldt
What's so bad about keys. Lose your phone and you're screwed (unless you happen to have a spare in your "Hide-A-Phone)
@Oakspar77777 - denigration FAIL!
anyways...
there's an attractive model on it, SO IT MUST BE GOOD!!! dang you BMW, i fall for the trick every time!
agreed the phone needs to have a power analyzer app.
www.thekpv.com
The hybrid electric kinetic powered vehicle
Why not droid... most cell phone users wont move to ATT/ifail system. Droid is more open and upgradable in the software sense.
Droid is much mo betta.