Poimo – New Inflatable E-Bike Fits In A Backpack

Don Wood – MessageToEagle.com – It’s not a person’s first need, but it’s certainly an innovative piece of technology that can be used by anyone. Poimo is a new e-bike that is so compact it can fit into a backpack.

Developed by researchers at the Tokyo University, Poimo has an inflatable body that would protect pedestrians as well as the rider in the case of an accident.

Credit: University of Tokyo

At present, there is only a prototype of this electronic bike, but a final commercial product will soon be available on the market.

Poimo looks different and some will say it’s not an elegant bike, but it’s practical and can be much more cost-effective than existing vehicles. Japanese people who tested Poimo say it’s solid and fun to ride.

We envision “Soft Mobility,” which is a new type of personal mobility made of soft, lightweight, and inflatable materials. A soft body enables safer user interactions with pedestrians and drivers; the lightweight and inflatable properties allow the users to easily carry it as a “portable device,” by deflating, folding, and packing it into, for example, a backpack.

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As embodiment of such soft mobility, we prototyped “poimo” (POrtable and Inflatable MObility). To evaluate the poimo, we first conducted mechanical tests to verify that it can endure the weight of a human. We also measured the time needed to inflate / deflate it to demonstrate its property. Finally, we reported on the preliminary results of riding on it, and clarified the requirements to further investigate and implement soft mobility transport,” the Japanese science team explained.

Researchers focused the design on a lightweight e-bike that people could carry with them on public transportation and use for what they call ‘one-mile mobility.’

This could include traveling to locations that aren’t close to public transportation routes or moving between neighborhoods that don’t have any direct bus or train connections.

Poimo weights around 12 pounds but the goal is to make the final product even light. According to Spectrum, “it takes just one minute to It takes just over a minute to inflate Poimo to an optimal operating pressure (both stable and comfortable to sit on) to 40 or 50 kPa (6 or 7 psi), which is really not much at all. (Soccer balls are inflated to twice that pressure, so a small hand pump and some patience would be sufficient to get the e-bike up and running.)”

Currently, it’s difficult to estimate whether Poimo will become a popular e-bike. It depends on its price, battery life, and range, but its future looks promising.

Written by Don Wood – MessageToEagle.com Staff