eFoldi : Lightweight mobility scooter

EFoldi's original folding mobility scooter was invented by Jianmin Wang and won numerous awards and praise internationally. Productworks were asked to design a second generation product, tackling some of the issues with the first version.

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The brief was to design a new eFoldi which offered easier folding, greater comfort, easier mounting/dis-mounting, greater compactness as well as compliance with UK standards. We explored multiple folding architecture concepts through sketching, CAD and model making. Rider position and comfort were paramount and a lot of effort went into balancing these requirements with the desire to make the folded device as small as possible whilst also being mechanically robust, easy to use and low cost. An additional challenge was to incorporate a 10" front wheel ( later dropped by eFoldi to simplify engineering and folding) which needed to rotate 90° during folding.

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We developed a compact lightweight folding frame that opened and closed in a an intuitive way and required only a few actions from the user. Hidden mechanisms were designed so that the whole process of folding and unfolding would be simple and enjoyable for the end user.

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Working with Chinese suppliers and manufacturing partners, we explored materials and manufacturing processes, developed fully engineered CAD and built prototypes to physically test and evaluate the design. EFoldi took on board the new folding concept and much of the design work and developed the new magnesium framed product in conjunction with their Chinese manufacturing partners.

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Launched April 2019.