As means of transportation continue to change in modern cities, one company is trying to redefine the game when it comes to scooters.
Floatility, a German start-up company, has introduced the e-floater lightweight electric scooter, which boasts 3D-printed components and is solar-powered.
Floatility refers to the e-floater as an intelligent scooter, which removes the physical exertion from a ride, enabling users to stand upright freely without fatigue.
While the electric scooter being solar-powered stands out, the e-floater being built with 3D-printed components make it particularly unique. To make that happen, Floatility tabbed two 3D-printing companies — Stratasys FDM and PolyJet 3D — to first create a working prototype, before hitting production last month.
"The need to build prototypes that exactly resembled the final product and that would enable us to test everything thoroughly was vital to the successful launch of this product," Oliver Risse, Floatility's founder, said in a press release statement. "3D printing was essential in this regard as it allowed the team to physically test the design and concept of e-floater as if it were the final product. This not only sped up the product development cycle, but dramatically reduced our product development costs. We would have not been able to take this product from concept to launch without using Stratasys 3D printing solutions to develop a working prototype. It's as simple as that."
The scooter's soft components, including its front- and tail lights, wheels and grips were made with the PolyJet-based Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D printer. Meanwhile, the e-floater's rugged components were 3D printed using Stratasys Fortus 450 3D production system.
