Electric Scooter Disruptor: Argo Design's Rentable Step Puts Safety And Community First - Forbes
Original article: forbes.com by Nargess Banks
The Argo Design Step electric urban scooter challenges others on the market - ARGO DESIGN
Urban Scooters are truly in vogue. A funky little vehicle adopted by parents to get their kids to school on-time, the tiny two-wheeler appears to have blossomed from the child’s sphere to adulthood replete with electric power. Seeing fully suited grown men whizzing about London town on electric scooters has taken time to digest. Yet, it certainly appears to be a growing trend for it makes radical sense in congested urban areas to offer e-scooters as rentable shared transport.
Many manufacturers are jumping on the scooter's popularity, with varying degrees of design sophistication. This is where Argo Design decided to do something a little different. The Austin, Texas studio has commissioned its Amsterdam arm to create a novel shared-scheme scooter concept focused on the fusion of safety and community. The result is Step, built on a respect for shared space and demonstrating a sensibility for ease-of-use and storage.
Texan firm Argo Design commissioned its Amsterdam arm to create this novel e-scooter - ARGO DESIGN
The name is a literal translation from Dutch for scooter. It is also a metaphor for small, controllable and safe movement - micro-mobility evolving step-by-step. Step can be stored on poles or folded into a smaller self-standing package, so as to help declutter sidewalks. The mechanism also helps contribute to a longer, more stable wheel base. An on-board camera brings computer vision intelligence, requiring the use of helmets and enforcing safe speeds amongst pedestrians. A public application program interface (API) allows for easy pull of data on accidents and unsafe riders. Intrigued, I got in contact with lead designer Guus Baggermans and industrial designer Hayes Urban to find out more.
Nargess Banks: How much of the Step scooter design is original?
Guus Baggermans and Hayes Urban: It is an entirely original design that resulted from the collaboration of our brand team and colleagues in the Austin and Amsterdam studios. Being a concept, it isn't an engineered solution but a provocation of how companies can apply design in a meaningful way.
Step stands for micro-mobility evolving step-by-step - ARGO DESIGN
NB: Yours is an interesting foldaway mechanism. How challenging was it to engineer the scooters to fold away?
GB and HU: A foldable scooter isn’t a new concept; many consumer scooters fold to create a smaller footprint for storage. Yet, the idea hasn’t been applied to the new rental market. We added the idea that it would fold and stand upright to create a smaller, more visible scooter that wouldn’t be a nuisance in urban areas and neighborhoods.
NB: What other areas of design have inspired the scooter in terms of shape, mechanism and materials?
GB and HU: Our goal was to show how a few rather straightforward modifications or additions to the existing model of the electric scooter could dramatically improve experiences for rider and pedestrian alike. The materials and mechanisms are conventional - steel tubing, batteries, electric motors, etc. - with an eye toward blending into the street and neighborhood, allowing riders to be good citizens.
NB: What are the dimensions and can they be made in different sizes to include child size?
GB and HU: Step has been designed as a model to which future ride-sharing programs can aspire. At the moment, it is a vision informed by design thinking and the insights of our talented, experienced designers. In the future, we hope that this vision can be taken further into reality.
Step can be stored on poles or folded into a smaller self-standing package - ARGO DESIGN
NB: Why the camera technology something that can be legally adopted globally?
GB and HU: The camera has been integrated into the concept as a possible solution to a problem. To create an actual product from this design vision, we need to take a good look at the actual design specifics of this system, as well as the service that underlays them.
NB: How close is the concept to production?
GB and HU: Concepts don't necessarily ever reach production. But we do hope some elements of this concept inspire ride-sharing companies to consider a broader point of view.
Argo's Step answers to the growing popularity and need for electric mobility solutions in cities - ARGO DESIGN
NB: Do you see other modes of urban transport being introduced into the family?
GB and HU: This vision was an effort to see what was the least we could do to dramatically improve a difficult situation. In the parlance of future visions, it was a look at the most plausible solution. In our next vision, we are examining the most preferable solution. One in which we will look at what it could be if we reimagined the “last mile” problem from a completely different point of view.
NB: How do you see this progressing?
GB and HU: Rather than accepting the assumption that scooters just need incremental refinements, we step back and reassess the original problem. How do we better integrate these little robots into our ecosystems, transforming them into citizens? What would a nature-based autonomous transport system look like? Our next concept will make life in the city healthier, safer and more beautiful.