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Editor’s notice: everybody at The Vintagent was thrilled on the first sight of the STILRIDE scooter, as its inventive monocoque chassis appeared a worthy heir to the enduring Vespa design of aeronautical engineer Corradino D’Ascanio from 1946. Then we discovered the STILRIDE’s chassis was manufactured from robotically folded metal, and that the scooter was primarily an illustration venture for a brand new manufacturing expertise known as STILFOLD, which is deeply spectacular. What number of car producers have as their core intention a revolutionary possibility for extra environment friendly manufacturing mixed with radical design prospects? It’s as if Luigi Colani (see the notes from our Silver Shotgun exhibit) had a brand new manufacturing expertise to again up his futuristic design sensibility. Learn Stephanie Weaver’s interview under:
Industrial engineer Tue Beijer has twin obsessions: sustainability and classic scooters. Earlier than constructing his spectacular resume, which incorporates working with iconic Ferrari 250 GTO designer Giotto Bizzarrini, Husqvarna, and BMW, Beijer designed his first electrical scooter in 1993. Sadly, there was hardly a requirement for eco-friendly automobiles again then. It took one other 27 years, till 2020, that Beijer’s goals lastly got here to fruition, when he launched STILRIDE along with his childhood buddy, Jonas Lindberg Nyvang. STILRIDE was based with Beijer’s and Nyvang’s shared imaginative and prescient of making a sustainable inheritor to the Italian scooter heritage they each love. Throughout dinner one night time, Beijer began folding a serviette because the pair brainstormed tips on how to develop such a motorbike. After appreciable improvement, the top result’s the STILRIDE SUS1, a retro-futuristic e-scooter created by way of “industrial origami.”
Just like the Japanese artwork of folding paper, STILRIDE’s patented curve folding STILFOLD expertise makes use of robotics, CNC machining, and lasers to fold flat sheets of metal into three-dimensional shapes. By combining clever software program modeling with robotic manufacture, the STILRIDE monocoque chassis makes use of 70% fewer elements and has 25% decrease labor prices in comparison with different manufacturing processes. This implies the corporate can develop low-cost, high-quality scooters with much less environmental influence. “In contrast to the tubular frames on conventional scooters, the SUS1’s chassis is made with seven folded sheets of flat metal. It creates this form-follows-function design language that provides to the bike’s distinctive aesthetics. The chassis can be extremely gentle, ultra-strong, and straightforward to make,” Cameron Crisman, Director of Worldwide Enterprise Improvement and Progress at STILRIDE, defined. “The SUS1 is a Trojan Horse to showcase STILRIDE’s expertise. It demonstrates what we will do.” Their ‘computational robotic expertise’ might be utilized to any steel designs, from automobiles and vans to furnishings and even structure (examine the ‘what if’ video on the STILFOLD website).
After inventing their chassis, the startup labored with Stockholm-based bespoke brake-system firm ISR to create a proprietary braking system for the SUS1. STILRIDE can be at the moment creating an clever integrations system in-house. This can enable a consumer to start out the scooter and monitor the battery capability from their smartphone. The SUS1 is outfitted with a hub motor on the rear wheel, and the low middle of gravity supplies a steady and straightforward trip. It could actually attain high speeds of 100km/h (62mph), has a variety of 120km (75 miles), and churns out 8kW (11hp). The SUS1 can be very snug: “The battery, swingarm, and motor are all in a monocoque casing. This slides straight into the chassis, making the SUS1 extremely inflexible. It doesn’t have loads of vibrations. The swingarm sits low and again, higher absorbing bumps for a smoother trip,” Crisman mentioned.
Whereas STILRIDE at the moment manufactures its scooters on-site in Stockholm, the corporate plans to make use of its software program—which might be shared digitally—to open distant manufacturing cells in focused places worldwide. Suppose IKEA meets robotics: flat-pack metal sheets might be shipped anyplace on the planet for native shaping utilizing downloadable software program, which helps native economies and considerably reduces the carbon emissions from delivery completed automobiles. STILRIDE is already increasing its attain into different areas of the mobility trade, and is at the moment collaborating with Polestar to develop a carbon-neutral automotive chassis to the market by 2030. “Our ambition is to assist different producers make their automobiles utilizing STILFOLD,” Crisman mentioned. For now, the corporate is concentrated on the SUS1’s upcoming launch. The STILRIDE SUS1 will go on sale this spring, with an estimated supply slated for spring 2024.
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