Elektroscooter - stylish concept without a reality?

Futuristic… innovative… revolutionary… these are all words that are grossly overused. So let me be plain and honest with you - this wheelchair looks and sounds cool and Professor X would be proud of it. Hence it gets an honorary mention on bespoken, but only the members can hand out true merit, so here goes…

Smart looking and very cool, the “Elektroscooter” is a huge leap away from the conventional, impersonal and very clinical looking wheelchairs we can easily imagine. The concept sounds great too. The wheels of the chair run on a ball bearing and attached directly to the seat which can rise up and go down depending on how you position the wheels and can help someone get in and out of the wheelchair. The motors for the chair are positioned underneath the sides of the seat. It all sounds great in theory but I can’t find any evidence that this chair was ever made into a functioning prototype.

Whether or not it has any practical merit in the real world, I don’t know. Perhaps it says something about me (call me a cynic) but I don’t entirely trust a design that looks so light and minimal. Has efficiency been sacrificed at the cost of aesthetics or have we really reached science-fiction levels of technology?

Shouldn’t it have more bits and parts? Be a little bulkier perhaps?

Where’s the suspension?

They say it’s electrical (sure, most powered wheelchairs are) but what kind of battery does it use and how can it be so compact and discreet while remaining adequate? How long does it last before needing recharged? This is unfair of me and I’ll quickly point out (before someone else does) that I am neither a designer nor an engineer. I do however have enough experience in looking at new concepts and hearing feedback from people who use wheelchairs to know I won’t be the only one to express these concerns.

The designer, Patrick Leyendecker, is a graduate of the University of Pforzheim in Germany where he studied product design. I tried contacting Mr Leyendecker through his website to shed some light on the design but have yet to hear back.

Looking at the design, what do you think?

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