Zoomi Life

The Zuumer electric scooter, made by Zuumcraft, Inc. of San Diego, CA has got to be one of the most ingenious new stand-up electric scooters that I’ve seen in a long time. Developed by a gentleman named Tom Boyd, the Zuumer is an stand-up three-wheeled electric scooter that uses an innovative suspension system to let you steer the scooter by shifting your body weight - in effect, ’surfing’ the street. Now that is cool. The Zuumer is perhaps not what you would expect to be developed by a gentleman like Mr. Boyd - his background is in technical sales - but nonetheless, his scooter’s design is as innovative as any.

The Zuumer electric scooter has a low center of gravity and dual-arm independent suspension mechanism. This allows you to make sharp turns by shifting your body weight while turning, without tipping over. And like the Segway, you do a lot of steering through the shifting of your bodyweight. Unlike the Segway, it doesn’t have any complicated electronics or gyros which cost more money, and add yet another potential point of failure in the vehicle.

The technical specs: The Zuumer is driven by a 1000 watt front hub motor, and runs off a lithium-polymer battery that recharges in about four hours and will give you a 20-25 mile range, which is significant for such a small electric scooter. While I haven’t been able to find any specs yet on top speed, a 1000 watt motor should easily take you to 20 mph on a flat surface.

If you’re interested in buying one, you can head over to Zuumcraft and pluck down your deposit - the scooter is expected to cost between $2,000 - $2,100 and Zuumcraft plans to roll the first 150 of them out in January 2009. I’m seriously considering buying one myself. In any case, I will try and visit these folks soon so I can get some video of them in action and try one - I’ll give you a first-hand report as soon as I’m able to get the opportunity.

Check out this video below of the Zuumer in action.

This Post via Zuumcraft