The RoboScooter is a foldable electric scooter developed by William J. Mitchell of the Smart Cities program at the MIT Media Lab.
The vehicle was designed in conjunction with Taiwan's SYM Motors and the Industrial Technology Research Institute.
[1] The scooter is designed to use battery-powered electric motors in the wheels, with lithium-ion batteries that can be charged on special charging racks, by plugging in at home or by swapping batteries at special vending machines designed for this purpose.
The scooter was designed to fold into a compact format, limiting the amount of parking or storage space needed, though a non-folding version could also be produced.
In the past, hybrid vehicles have required as much as 25% more parts than their internal combustion engine-powered counterparts.