Self-Balancing Electric Scooter In India: Liger Mobility Electric Scooter’s Video & Details
27-Dec-2022
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Self-balancing scooters in India could soon become a reality if this prototype is put into production. Indian electric mobility startup Liger Mobility has developed a self-balancing electric scooter with voice commands. A video by Electric Vehicle that showcases the scooter's capabilities has surfaced on the internet and it is really interesting.
The Indian automotive market is a unique one in which there are products for everyone. There are performance motorcycles for those seeking thrills, luxury motorcycles for those seeking comfort, commuter motorcycles and scooters for those just wanting to commute.
In the past few years though, one segment of two-wheelers has come up and has seen massive growth. Electric two-wheelers are no longer the future but are already reality with several manufacturers competing to sell more EVs. Liger Mobility at first might seem like yet another electric two-wheeler startup that will only add to the competition in the segment.
However, the team behind Liger Mobility has an ace up their sleeve - self-balancing technology. The concept of self-balancing two-wheelers is not new. Big brands like BMW Motorrad and Honda have already showcased self-balancing motorcycle before and they were really impressive.
Back in 2017, Honda showcased its self-balancing motorcycle at CES with advanced riding aids. Kicking it up a notch, BMW showcased a self-riding R 1200 GS in 2018. Yamaha too showcased a motobot that went against their MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi.
These motorcycles are nowhere close to production and even if they do reach the production stage, they will be way too expensive and out of reach of the common man. This is where Liger Mobility's self-balancing scooter seems pure genius.
Ashutosh Upadhyay, the co-founder of Liger Mobility, said in this particular video that their self-balancing technology will increase the cost of an average two-wheeler only by around 10 percent.
This will make it affordable and the masses can buy it, unlike the bikes from the big brands. In the video, one can even see the gyroscope moving around and working to keep the scooter stabilised.
The technology works very well even with the pillion rider on the scooter. Details of the electric scooter have not been revealed. The scooter itself appears to be a Mahindra Duro, with the internal combustion engine removed. The swingarm is a basic unit and the scooter is driven by a hub-mounted motor.
The scooter even features voice command for parking and reverse. The gyroscopic stability system is expected to keep the scooter upright even if it is hit by a vehicle from the side, thereby improving safety. At the moment though, it is uncertain if and when the self-balancing technology will be put into production.
Thoughts On Liger Self-Balancing Scooter In India
The biggest problem for most two-wheeler riders is to keep the vehicle balanced. Motorcycle enthusiasts wouldn't really understand this struggle because we love to ride. For us, losing balance happens only when we're pushing our motorcycles to the limit and sometimes beyond it.
For commuters though, losing balance happens almost everyday and people hate the leg-up, leg-down exercise that we end up doing hundreds and sometimes thousands of times in heavy traffic. The Liger self-balancing electric scooter could be the perfect solution to this problem. How the production version of the scooter will look and ride is something that remains to be seen.
