An initiative to alleviate inner city congestion has won a R50 000 award and is set to revolutionise how people commute.
The Watt Scooter is the brainchild of Industrial Design staff and students and has already gotten the attention of Rhodes University which grapples with an over reliance on cars by its students at its Grahamstown campus.
The Watt Scooter also suits CPUT student needs with it’s’ variety of campuses spread out across the Cape Town central business district.
The electric scooter can manage weights of 125km, a range of around 20km and a top speed of 25km on a two hour charge and thanks to its sturdy wheels and upright design can confidently tackle hills.
BTech student Mikhail Wertheim Aymes who is a collaborator on the project along with lecturers Craig Finnan, Johan van Niekerk and Daryn Molenaar says Watt Scooter’s long term goal is to provide a student transport share system.
“It locks up easily like a bike and our next step is to develop docking stations which could be activated by your student card,” he says.
The Watt Scooter won the Innovation Award at Design Indaba recently and was commended for its local design and the fact that the technology is easily upgradable.
Now the team are planning on using the prize to explore docking station options.
The Watt Scooter was such a hit with Design Indaba patrons that pre-orders for it are already sold out.
