Mobility / Technology

STILRIDE’s electric scooter is made using unique origami technology

27-year-old idea finally comes to life in the Swedish mobility startup’s first prototype.
By JOHAN MAGNUSSON
December 21, 2020

Industrial designer Tue Beijer designed his first electric scooter in 1993 and has since worked for the legendary Giotto Bizzarrini, the father of the 250 GTO and the Lamborghini V12 engine, BMW motorcycles, and Husqvarna. Jonas Lindberg Nyvang has a background as an entrepreneur and a marketeer, most recently as Global Marketing Director for Björn Borg.

— In two years me and Tue have developed this brand, technology, and pioneering product, he tells, following our childhood dream of creating a worthy contemporary heir to the scooter heritage that we both love, but with a sustainable purpose.

The project is a tight collaboration with product development company Semcon, steel engineering workshop Brantheim, research institute RISE IVF as well as global stainless steel manufacturer Outokumpu.

— We strongly believe in the electrification of personal mobility and see the need for a new breed of commuting vehicles made in harmony with nature. Our mission is to create clean energy-powered personal mobility through a flexible and sustainable production technology we call LIGHT.FOLD that is a form of industrial origami.

The idea behind the technology, Lindeberg Nyvang tells, has evolved through tinkering with it for several years. It is enabled by the recent technological advancements in robotics and laser tech. 

— In short we have cracked how to take a single sheet of steel and fold it to produce a frame with no waste. We do this through a cutting edge sheet metal shaping procedure using origami folding techniques, laser cutting and industrial robotics. Originally no more than a novel mind-bending concept, we are now simulating it, making ”produced here” not only viable, but to all intents a no-brainer for a wide range of products.

STILRIDE’s currently developing the product prototype, Sport Utility Scooter 1, for productification.

— Several well-established Swedish technology and industrial players, eager to get in on the game-changing production technology, are partners in the project, says Lindberg Nyvang. He continues:

— Our ambition is to build the most attractive and sustainable electric scooter in the world. Simultaneously, we want to challenge the traditional view of manufacturing by using the mentioned robotic industrial origami to fold structures from a flat sheet of metal true to the material’s characteristics and geometric nature. Creating a safe, desirable, and sustainable production and transportation platform. Our scooter requires considerably less material and manual labor than the manufacturing of traditional tube-and-panel scooters. It can additionally be carried out in small, regional factories, cutting down on the transportation of raw materials and finished products. And finally, both the steel scraps and the scooter bodies themselves are fully recyclable.

Sport Utility Scooter 1 will be available in 2022/2023, while STILRIDE’s plan is to develop their second model, the Sport Utility Scooter 2, into a ”flakmoppe”.

— A utility scooter with a cargo bed for the urban logistic market and also for busy families in need of an environmental alternative to their SUV when driving kids to soccer practice, says Lindberg Nyvang.

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