The world’s smallest and most compact e-scooter developed by Japanese startup Shimizu has launched on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo to raise $100,000 before its release later this year.
Officially certified by TFCO, the Arma scooter can fold down to the size of a laptop, with Shimizu aiming to make the final vehicle approximately 10 pounds.
The Arma is 210 mm wide, 297 mm long and 96 mm tall. That’s about 10 A4 paper sheets stacked on top of each other.
It has been designed to fit into a daily backpack, slide in on top of a suitcase, and easily be carried in one hand.
“Traditional micromobility solutions often can’t be carried to places that users would like to go,” the CEO and Founder of Arma Masaki Shimizu told Zag Daily. “While those solutions suffice for some needs, the compact size when folded opens up possibilities that were not achievable before.
“In that sense, our product Arma is a small size and it allows it to be kept nearby, eliminating concerns about theft.”
A small size doesn’t come at the expense of what the Arma scooter offers. The first prototype can carry a payload of 220 pounds – approximately 22 times the weight of itself. It has a top speed of 24 kph, a range of 11 kms, and a charging time of two hours.
Shimizu anticipates that the Arma scooter will be available for purchase sometime between this year’s third and fourth quarter, through the official website, and retailers in America, Europe and other countries worldwide as regulations permit.
The crowdfund comes after its successful Kickstarter campaign which saw a further $122,000 raised for the scooter’s prototype developments.
