Micromobility Grows Up
ICYMI: Micromobility is a broad term for small, lightweight, often electric or pedal-powered vehicles designed for short, mostly urban trips.
Micromobility vehicles include bicycles, bike-sharing, cargo bikes/trikes, folding bikes, electric two-, three-, or four-wheeled cycles, urban mobility vehicles, e-mopeds, electric kick scooters, and an ever-evolving cornucopia of other compact wheel- and battery-based modes of transport.
In whatever form, Micromobility attempts to address those awkward last-mile and short-duration trips. The sort of trips that sometimes feel too far to walk and too short to bother driving.
For as long as most of us can remember, the majority of those trips were made by cars and trucks because cities and roads were built to make driving more convenient and the rules of the road were written with only cars and trucks in mind.
Micromobility challenges that assumption, suggesting that not every trip requires a 7-seater SUV and a truck-sized parking space.
Sometimes the right tool for your transportation needs is much smaller.
And cities the world over are trying to figure out how to adjust, starting by outlining Micromobility strategies, conducting research, adjusting roadways, supporting different types of parking, and establishing rules of the road that address a wide range of new vehicle types.
The Topolino
The Tiny Fiat Topolino EV
This week, Stellantis opened orders for its small Fiat Topolino EV in the US, with a starting price of $13,995.
If there’s “interest and demand,” it might become available in Canada too.
Let’s be clear: the Topolino is not a normal car. It is more of a glorified golf cart with a windshield, a top speed of 19 mph (30 kph), an all-electric range of 46 miles (74 km), and a wheelbase that’s barely longer than one and a half of a king-sized mattresses.
Later this year, Stellantis plans to offer a low-speed vehicle conversion kit that, ironically, makes the tiny car faster, increasing the Topolino’s max speed to a blistering 25 mph (40 km/h).
That’s not very fast, but it is fast enough to make the Topolino street-legal on downtown Toronto streets as a registered low-speed vehicle.
Stellantis knows that the Topolino won’t be for everyone.
If you live in an urban setting and were previously considering buying a cargo e-bike as your daily driver but would prefer to stay drier on rainy spring days, then the Topolino might be the tiny two-door with a roof that fits the bill.
The MUDD
The Ariel Rider MUDD 72V
The Ariel Rider MUDD 72V isn’t your average e-bike.
It is described as a “high-performance PPB (private property bike)” intended for off-road and closed-course use.
That’s because the MUDD can reach speeds exceeding 65 mph (105 km/h), making it one of the fastest hub motor-powered machines in the off-road e-bike category.
That’s WAY faster than most e-bikes are allowed to cruise at on city streets.
Despite its motorcycle-like performance, the MUDD still features functional pedals, a cadence sensor, and a half-twist throttle.
You could drive the MUDD on city streets, but you’d have to keep an eye on the speedometer to make sure you don’t tip off any attentive, radar-gun-wielding police officer who might notice how frigging fast you’re actually driving.
The Amble One
The Amble One
Former Apple designer Julian Hoenig and Forpeople founder Michael Tropper have teamed up to enter the Micromobility space with Amble One.
The Amble One is a doorless electric buggy with a gorgeous neo-retro design, built for locations where traditional cars are unnecessary or too large, such as hotels, resorts, retirement complexes, and beach communities.
The Verge called it “The G-Wagon of Golf Carts”.
Amble One won’t impress you with its 0–60.
It tops out at 40 mph (65 km/h) and can travel up to 62 miles (100 km) on a single charge.
It can charge its battery from a standard wall outlet in 5 hours and has a curb weight under 450kg (992lbs).
Amble CEO Adrien Roose said, “The inspiration for this vehicle comes initially from the Lunar Rover, but they also looked into older 4x4s like the G-Wagen, which is very famous for its very flat surfaces and other such vehicles. Some people could call it a glorified golf cart, but it’s really in between in terms of platform. If you look at the battery, it’s three to four times the range of a golf cart.”
You can currently reserve the Amble One with a $100 deposit, with deliveries targeted for 2028. But it will cost you about the same amount of dollars as a Slate pick-up truck.
The S4 Honcho
Is THAT a Harley?
Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire division recently began production of the S4 Honcho.
The Honcho is an electric mini-moto, built for fun and short commuter trips.
You can charge the Honcho’s battery from 20% to 80% in about two hours on a typical 110-V outlet.
If your extension cord can’t reach your bike, the removable battery can be charged pretty much anywhere.
As for performance, LiveWire has yet to disclose details, but the Honcho is expected to have a top speed of around 59 mph (95 km/h) and a 0–30 mph (48 km/h) time of 3 seconds.
The Honcho isn’t an e-bike.
It isn’t a full-sized motorcycle either.
But you’ll still need a driver’s license to take it for a spin.
Somewhere in this bike there might be a dash of Harley DNA, but you’ll probably get some funny looks if you pull into Port Dover or Sturgis on this thing.
IMHO
The Micromobility space is growing up a bit.
We’re moving from dangerous plastic bikes and scooters to vehicles that look like shrunken versions of their full-size cousins made by some of the same manufacturers.
These vehicles are being integrated into our lives and our cities, one bike lane, one legislation change, one transit connection, and one short trip to the grocery store at a time.
That’s how lasting change often happens.
Not through a single breakthrough, but through a new menu option becoming useful, accepted, and eventually ordinary.
The future of urban transportation will still include cars, trucks, buses, and walking.
It will also include a growing number of smaller vehicles filling the spaces in between.
For cities built around the assumption that almost every trip requires a car, it is a significant change.
There’s still a lot to figure out as cities’ transportation profiles shift and morph into something new.
We all have to share the same roads.
But that change is already underway.