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Gizmos & Gadgets: Meet Urb-E, A Tricycle to Assist Your Daily Commute

February 25, 2014

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February 25, 2014 – You’ve finished your work day, hopped on the bus, transferred to the subway and now are ready for that last couple of kilometers walk home. Wait! Just unfold your Urb-E Commuter and ride the remainder of your trip home. That’s the dream of Mateo Neri and Grant Delgatty, the inventors and co-founders of the company that is bringing Urb-E to market with the help of a crowdfunding campaign running on Indiegogo. So far the company is about 1/3 the way to their $150,000 U.S. goal with a month to go.

So what’s Urb-E all about?

It’s a collapsible electric tricycle that can carry an adult weighing up to 113 kilograms (250 pounds). The tricycle itself with battery pack weighs 13 kilograms (27 pounds). It’s constructed out of aluminum and features a lithium-ion battery pack with a range of 32 kilometers (20 miles). Recharge takes 3 hours. You can fold it and roll it like carry-on luggage. It features disk brakes and a top speed of 24 kilometers (15 miles) per hour.

Priced at $1,799 U.S., you can pre-order an Urb-E with a donation of $799 to the crowdfunding site. That’s a $1,000 saving.

Urb-E is designated an Electric Personal Assistive Mobility Device or EPAMD. To drive it in your locality you need to check out the regulations governing such devices.

From watching the video clips the tricycle looks like a lot of fun to ride. But isn’t this just another excuse not to exercise? And if you ride the bus, subway and your Urb-E every day to work how quickly will you exceed the weight threshold of your ride?