While modern transportation has made it easy to move from point A to point B, it’s only efficient as long as the distance involved is sufficiently long. After all, is there really an easy way to move just a couple miles in a congested city? Between clogged streets and delayed trains, the answer has historically been “no.” Here to amend that answer is Stigo, a last-mile transportation solution.
The Stigo is a lightweight two-wheeled vehicle designed with the urban commuter in mind. Sure, you beat rush hour traffic on a bike or a motorized scooter, but when it comes to actually storing these vehicles indoors, you might have more of a problem. Enter Stigo, neither a bike nor a scooter, but something of a hybrid that boasts portability — both for you and for itself — above all else.
As Stigo CEO Ardo Reinsalu told Digital Trends, “Our thought was that people need some kind of vehicle that could be taken indoors. That meant it had to be very small and very light.” Capable of being folded and carried around, you can quickly turn the Stigo from a towable to an electric scooter when you’re ready to hit the road. The scooter can conquer 13 miles on a single charge, and promise to sustain speeds of up to 16 miles per hour. Whereas other electric vehicles require complex charging systems, the Stigo simply needs an outlet to be re-juiced, which means you can quickly charge it in your home, office, or even a cafe.
While the Stigo looks a bit like a miniaturized bike, Reinsalu assured us that the ergonomic design will suit any rider. “The design of the Stigo has been thoroughly thought through,” the executive said. “The position of the seat, handlebars, and footrest are all exactly the same distance apart as they would be on a standard bike.” Really, the difference in size comes from the wheels, which are much smaller than one might expect.
Ultimately, Stigo hopes to begin cutting down on the number of cars clogging up city streets, thereby reducing the amount of pollution plaguing city life. “Transportation is the largest air pollution source in the U.S.,” Reinsalu pointed out. And surprisingly, much of this pollution comes not only from exhaust fumes, but from tire residue. As such, he said, “It’s not the case that switching to electric cars solves for all pollution. Our vision for city centers is not to have more electric or self-driving cars, but to get rid of heavy vehicles that are not efficient, particularly for short distances.”
You can order a Stigo bike online for $1,390, or find an authorized seller near you.
