UK e-scooter manufacturer, Swifty Scooters, has been granted funding to get its new e-scooter to bulk production with aspirations to improve e-scooter safety in the process.
Funded by the Advanced Propulsion Centre and supported by Innovate UK, the ‘Production Readiness Competition’ is delivered by the Niche Vehicle Network with support from Cenex.
Swifty is joined by three other British companies who will receive funding: Maeving Electric Motorcycles, Callum Designs EV and Ariel Motor All-Terrain Vehicle. They will be awarded a total of £1.1mn to support the research and development of zero emission vehicle technologies. For Swifty, the funding will go toward safety testing, design development and assembly line preparation.
Jason Iftakhar Co-Founder and CEO of Swifty Scooters sees the funding as an opportunity to raise the safety standards for e-scooters across the board. He told Zag Daily, “Our new electric vehicle has gone above and beyond what the European standards require. Our mission is to demonstrate a new gold standard for the industry.”
Scott Thompson, Programme Manager of the Niche Vehicle Network explains, “These Production Readiness projects play an important role in developing the UK low volume EV supply chain, creating that not only benefit the projects but also the wider niche vehicle sector.”
Iftakhar outlines some of the changes he’d like to see across the industry: “We would like to see more rigorous testing requirements for chargers, batteries, brakes, wheel size and geometry. We believe only small changes to the current European standard would be needed to clean up the industry, as many poor quality products would fail. For example mandating a minimum wheel size for a road worthy e-scooter in our opinion would significantly contribute to reducing accidents caused by instability or loss of control.”
With the London Fire Brigade summoned to attend an e-bike or e-scooter fire every two days on average, battery safety is a high priority for Swifty. They’ve teamed up with UK battery specialist, PMBL, to ensure high battery quality standards.
“Our motivation to work with PMBL comes from the need to find a UK supplier who can build, service and maintain our battery and charging system. PMBL have decades of experience in this field and we are delighted to be working with them.”
Swifty is gearing up to reveal their upcoming electric scooter, tailored for both road and cycle-lane usage. This cutting-edge scooter will integrate Swifty’s well-established geometry renowned for its exceptional stability and control. It will showcase distinctive 16-inch wheels, front and rear suspension, disk brakes, and a secure battery and charging system for added peace of mind.
In October, Swifty Scooters will be revealing their new design at the Micromobility Industries Show in San Francisco.
