Hyundai Wants to Eliminate Walking in the Greenest Way Possible

Hyundai Motor’s IONIQ Scooter Concept (Credit: © Hyundai )

The Hyundai Ioniq is primed to give the Prius and other green cars fits, thanks to its good fuel economy and what I anticipate to be a relatively low base price. But it appears as if the Korean automaker is up for some experimentation with its newest green vehicle.

At the 2017 CES, Hyundai launched a concept scooter designed to pair perfectly with the Ioniq. Dubbed the Ioniq Scooter, this two-wheeled machine is lightweight and propelled by an electric motor. What’s more, Hyundai designed it to slide right into a storage cubby in the Ioniq Electric’s front door.

Said to be a first- and last-mile mobility concept, Hyundai intends this scooter to essentially eliminate the need for walking. Once you park your Ioniq, the scooter will shuttle you to your destination. Then, once you’re ready to call it a day, it’ll whisk you back to your EV.

The Ioniq Scooter features front and rear lights, helping you see and other people see you. It also has an occupant sensor so it knows when it’s safe to pull away. Speaking of pulling away, to accelerate this electric scooter, the rider simply scrolling the wheel on the thumb switch up. Scrolling down engages the brakes.

Obviously, this concept isn’t a production item, nor do I anticipate it ever reaching that point. That said, I’ve been surprised before.

What do you think: Is the Ioniq Scooter an innovative concept or a means to inspire laziness?