Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Urban Micromobility
AI-powered electric scooters represent the future of urban micromobility. They will soon phase out their gas-powered counterparts.
On November 30, 2022, OpenAI released the Chat Generative Pre-training Transformer (ChatGPT), sparking the global generative AI (GenAI) arms race. It triggered companies across the globe to dedicate considerable resources to developing technology to integrate AI into their offerings.
Research and development (R&D) of AI solutions for electric scooters accelerated in 2023 as electric vehicle (EV) companies multiplied. China, the largest EV market in the world, accounts for nearly 60.00% of active EV units and has over 300 EV manufacturers.
Safer Roads Through Assisted Riding
Integrating cameras and AI into an electric scooter grants it semi-autonomous riding capabilities. The micromobility vehicle will constantly scan the surroundings and perform real-time adjustments to improve the user’s riding experience.
For example, the Flash Motors Nano Elite’s adaptive cruise control can maintain the balance, direction, and speed of the e-scooter even without the rider’s input. Thus, it eliminates the need to grip the handlebars throughout the ride, greatly improving the riding quality, especially in long-distance travel.
Moreover, the Nano Elite electric scooter controller (ESC) continuously gathers rider and terrain data. It detects pavements, bike lanes, humps, pits, puddles, and other obstacles to avoid them automatically. In addition, it tracks moving objects and predicts their path to execute defensive riding measures.
Defensive riding practices and AI-powered assistance minimizes the risks of getting into traffic accidents.
AI-Powered Integrated Mobile Apps
Some newer electric scooter models have built-in phone mounts, proving that full integration between the smartphone and the e-scooter is not far off. Furthermore, new mobile apps designed for scooter riders are constantly being released.
In the next few years, we may see mobile apps allowing electric scooters to park themselves and move to the rider’s location when summoned. We already see the early iteration of similar AI solutions in autonomous delivery robots.
Conclusion
AI-powered electric scooters represent the future of urban micromobility. Along with improvements in speed and range from advancements in battery and motor technologies, it won’t be long before e-scooters completely phase out their gas-powered counterparts.
