DESIGN NAME: Pure Advance Flex
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Electric Scooter
INSPIRATION: The electric scooter offers riders incredible benefits: faster, cheaper, greener travel; but the design has remained untouched for years, with most manufacturers adding a battery and a motor to a scooter which is based on a child’s design. Pure Electric recognised the benefits of the category, but interrogated the design from the ground up to ensure it can better deliver on what an urban rider needs: safety, performance, flexibility.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Pure Advance Flex re-thinks how users ride and live with e-scooters. With rider experience and safety at the core of the design process, the product enables the rider to take a natural, forward-facing stance, with feet apart, delivering a more stable and comfortable ride compared to a traditional scooter. With multiple folding features, the Pure Advance Flex folds down into an ultra-compact package, perfect for storage in small urban spaces or maximum flexibility for multi-modal journeys.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: A smooth and controlled folding experience was the driving force behind most decisions during the development of the Advance Flex. Careful consideration has been made to ensure the scooter supports itself at every stage of the folding process. There is no need to support the weight of the product while bending over and the user can efficiently fold or unfold the scooter using clean and intuitive touch points.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The Pure Advance Flex was designed in Bristol in the United Kingdom, and is manufactured in China. The idea was first conceived 6 months into the development of its slightly less flexible counterpart, the Pure Advance. Including this early work on the Pure Advance, the Advance Flex has taken just over 2 and a half years to develop, manufacture and distribute across Europe.
FITS BEST INTO CATEGORY: Vehicle, Mobility and Transportation Design
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: The Pure advance Flex is designed around a hydroformed, aluminium chassis. Design and material selection for every single component have been carefully considered to keep the scooter as lightweight as possible, while also providing reliable mechanisms and a solid ride quality. Patents have been filed for the intricate folding handlebar mechanism and the Pure Control steering system, which offers a stable and controlled riding experience.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Folded dimensions: 57(H) x 30(W) x 62cm(L). Mass: 16.2kg. Power: 500W rear motor (710W peak power). Maximum range: 40km. Water resistance: IP65 rated.
TAGS: scooter, electric scooter, folding, transport, mobility
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: Like many products, the Pure Advance Flex was designed and developed in secret and so creativity was required to validate design decisions... To give an example, during the early development of the product, the design team were tasked to carry an empty cardboard box with them while travelling. The aim was to define the maximum space package that would fit on all forms of public transport. Over time and over many journeys, the box evolved in size and shape until it would fit anywhere and everywhere it was taken. The box was used to set the size requirements of the scooter.
CHALLENGE: While there have been many challenges during the development of the Advance Flex, none come close to the challenge of mass manufacture. It is one thing to create a prototype and hand fettle it until it is working smoothly, but this is just the beginning. To transition to a production line that produces category leading products time and time again requires an incredible understanding of tolerances, manufacturing processes and ultimately a great deal of trial and error.
ADDED DATE: 2023-02-23 14:52:41
TEAM MEMBERS (1) : David Leonard
IMAGE CREDITS: Pure Electric, 2022.
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