ZeitEco: A boxy scooter you can toss in the back of your car
The ZeitEco scooter on Kickstarter takes a different approach to personal transportation with a compact design and the ability to charge gadgets and play music.
There's no denying that the ZeitEco scooter looks weird, like the love child of a Yamaha and a Klondike bar. If you want to blend into a crowd, this isn't the vehicle for you. The name stands for "zero-emission individual transport." The result is an electric scooter that can fit in the back of many vehicles.
The ZeitEco handlebars and foot rests fold away so you can pack it into small spaces. It's also ready to handle your gadgets with a built-in sound system and the ability to charge them up. It's kind of like a boom box on wheels.
The scooter's creators emphasize that the vehicle is not a toy. It has an aluminum frame, a plastic body, and a pop-out glove box big enough to accommodate most tablets (though you'll be hard-pressed to fit a bag of groceries in there).
The side panels are designed to be removable, so you can change them out whenever you feel like rocking a different color. The batteries give it about a 20-mile range on a charge.
The ZeitEco team has embarked on a Kickstarter campaign with a $250,000 goal for getting the prototype turned into a production model. Pledge prices for the scooter itself start at $1,700. That's not crazy for a small electric vehicle, especially one that will turn heads like the ZeitEco. I'm guessing this will be a love-it-or-hate-it look. Chances are, if you like those boxy old Volvos, you'll like this boxy new scooter.
