Bo’s e-scooter is beyond state of the art<p>We’re living in an age of micromobility, where city dwellers are given more options to get around than ever before. Bike-sharing schemes, which quickly swelled to include e-scooters, are big deals in major areas where the commuting distances are just that bit too long to walk. But scooters have yet to achieve the same legitimacy as the bicycle with mainstream users. In part, this is because it’s still a relatively emerging technology, but also because the scooter has the whiff of a
toy about it. After all, the Segway was meant to revolutionize transportation, as it headed on its one-way journey toward the novelty store. Similarly, hoverboards never had any real shot at making its way across the rubicon that separates useless from utility. E-scooters are already on the other side of the water, but will they stay there long term?</p><p>It’s something that the team at
Bo Mobility believes is entirely possible, so long as there’s some serious, grown-up effort put in today. The UK-based company was founded by Oscar Morgan, Harry Wills and Luke Robus, who met while working at Williams Advanced Engineering, part of the F1 team. They’ve spent the last three years working on Bo M, a serious e-scooter that’s been conceived from the ground up to be exactly that. It’s promised to be better designed, run better, and have a longer lifespan than any of the quasi-toy products that litter our streets today. I’ve ridden the prototype (two, in fact) and I already feel confident that it’s a quantum leap compared to what we currently have.</p><span id="end-legacy-contents"></span><figure><img src="
https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2022-08/47394fd0-18bc-11ed-bffe-85e834abfab0" style="height:1200;width:2000;" alt="Image of the bo e-scooter's AirDeck. " data-uuid="92662fc5-ff65-31fc-b078-404a2fbf2e62"><figcaption></figcaption><div class="photo-credit">Daniel Cooper</div></figure><p>The first thing you’ll notice about Bo is its shape, with a swan neck that arches gracefully from the steering column to the deck. There’s no hinge or fixing joint between the two, as it’s not built to fold or compress down in any way – you park it in its upright position. Ditching the fold means that you can massively increase strength, and gives its creators room to add in some extra features that you won’t find on your typical $399 scooter. “People say ‘you guys made a pretty scooter,’” says Oscar Morgan, co-founder, “but it’s really important to appreciate that it has a fundamentally different architecture … When you move from a tubular frame to a proper monocoque construction, you move all the stresses. It makes it stronger, but it also means that we can start to package stuff.”</p><p>And the most important thing in the package – nestled inside that beefy curved cowl, is a product called Safesteer. It is, for now, a series of prototypes, each being refined before the scooter’s launch next year. And it’s top secret, beyond the fact that it’s a hybrid analog / digital device that’s designed to improve balance and maneuverability. (What I have been able to get out of Morgan: It’s
not a gyroscope, which was how something like the Segway managed to stay upright.) After all, most e-scooters require a little bit of a learning curve, especially the cheaply-made ones. It’s not for nothing that most e-scooters require you to keep both hands on the bars, unlike a bike which can be ridden one (or, if you’re brave, no) handed.</p><figure><img src="
https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2022-08/6eaa5b90-18bc-11ed-9e70-a3ccbae3f4c7" style="height:1200;width:2000;" alt="Image of the bo e-scooter's handlebars." data-uuid="1de2de4c-680a-3c91-a379-da1024e5724e"><figcaption></figcaption><div class="photo-credit">Daniel Cooper</div></figure><p>“Going from a big bike wheel to a [small] scooter wheel,” said Morgan, “you lose all of your gyroscopic stability.” Safesteer will hopefully redress the balance, enabling you to ride around with the same level of indifference as you would with a bike. And, similarly, Morgan and Wills’ team has sweated the details in terms of weight distribution, wheel dynamics and suspension. Or, in this case, a lack of it. The pair found that replacing the 8-inch tyres seen on most scooters with bigger, 10-inch models offers far greater balance and grip. That enabled them to leave out the mechanical suspension, massively reducing weight, which improved maneuverability. You may think that the ride quality suffers, but the company is working on AirDeck, adding an elastomer to the footplate which will act as a shock absorber, similar to that you’d find on a pricey running shoe. Then again, you’re not going to be riding your e-scooter into too many potholes no matter how comfortable the ride is (and Bo’s is nicer and smoother than some I’ve tried).</p><p>And then there’s the load hook – which is such a small addition but one that the team, again, sweated over. Morgan explained that as part of the idea to pull people out of their cars and onto scooters, that they’d need some secure way to hold luggage. “You see lots of people riding with bags,” said Wills, “hanging them from the handlebars, and it's really dangerous when you’re riding around.”
Bo’s e-scooter is beyond state of the art
