A British Columbia-based startup focused on electric mobility has launched Next Move, a design contest with the aim of encouraging creative and leading minds to shape the future of sustainable personal transportation.
Burnaby-born ENVO Drive Systems allows individuals and teams of up to four to compete for a $15,000 prize pool, including an opportunity to work with, and learn from, top mobility experts for a two-month period.
“ENVO Next Move represents a significant initiative for our team,” believes CEO Ali Kazemkhani.
ENVO Next Move is a competition aiming to design the next generation of sustainable personal transportation. The objective is to “encourage leading minds to shape the future of the electric personal transport industry in various contexts of use, ranging from navigating the city to exploring nature.”
According to Kazemkhani, “the new chapter of electric micro-mobility will be a combination of multiple niche mobility concepts each addressing specific applications from urban to rural, from on-road to off-road, and from sea to sky.”
There are four different categories of electric personal mobility in ENVO Next Move: Weather Protected Electric Bike/Trike concept (Velomobile), Snow Electric Mobility Solution, Water Micro Electric Mobility Solution, and All-Terrain Electric Platform. Contestants will retain full ownership over their designs.
“We want to work with passionate and like-minded individuals who care about the future of e-mobility,” says Kazemkhani. “We hope to see a high volume of creative sustainable engineering designs come in the formal invitations.”
ENVO is known for its “Flex” line of versatile e-bikes. Flex parts can be interchanged, allowing the bike to adapt to seasons based on the riders’ needs, according to the company. The product’s versatility enables it to tap into various niche markets.
“Our research found that some niche riding applications, such as snow cycling, utility and cargo, kids and passengers, seniors and adaptive cycling, are not getting the attention from the micro electric mobility industry because of the small market size,” explained Kazemkhani in August.
Consequently, versatility and flexibility for users was “top of mind for ENVO,” which Kazemkhani founded in 2015 out of his condo in Vancouver.
Leave a Reply