Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels, USA



Electric cargo scooter lust is now a thing. We sometimes walk through life without ever realizing our hearts hold a void until the propitious moment we first lay eyes on that missing piece. That thing that unexpectedly makes us whole and floods us with excitement. The hole in our soul, apparently, is shaped like the Kubo from Lit Motors.

Like our hearts, this electric cargo scooter also has an empty space quietly calling out to be filled. Only, instead of yearning for a Kubo inside of a Kubo - that would just be absurd - it asks to hold the detritus of daily life: our groceries, our backpack, our unexpected yard sale hauls. Able to carry 300 pounds (including rider), it can handle lots of stuff. Heavy stuff.

To fulfill its mission brief, this two-wheeled pickup truck is fitted with a torquey 3-kW (four-horsepower) in-wheel motor fed by a 3.81-kWh lithium battery buried in its floor, making it capable of speeds of 45 miles per hour and distances of 50 miles on a charge. Its unorthodox shape is aided by its novel helm control system - what's referred to inside the company as pank-style steering - and is said to be quite intuitive. When the first examples are delivered, they will be wearing disc brakes, with some stopping assistance also coming from a regenerative braking setup.

Now, you might be wondering why this San Francisco start up would take time from its best known effort - a gyro-stabilized enclosed electric motorcycle that could change the face of traffic - to build a scooter. We did too, so we asked. According to CMO Ryan James, the Kubo is something of a pet project within the company that has been furthured during the free time of a few engineers, with eventual production to be handled by a separate team. Launching it now via a Kickstarter campaign affords the firm a low-cost way to learn about bringing a product to market and prepares them for the future.

You can watch our new-found fancy in action by scrolling down to the video below. You can also visit their aforementioned Kickstarter page to offer encouragement, get the t-shirt or offer up $5,000 and for your own sense of completement.Continue reading Lit Motors Kubo electric cargo scooter fills the hole in our hearts [w/video]

Lit Motors Kubo electric cargo scooter fills the hole in our hearts [w/video] originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 20 Nov 2013 13:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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