When COVID shut everything down a few years ago, electric two-wheel brand Super Soco decided to collab with the next generation of our industry’s designers to mull over what (their) machines would look like in a zero-emission future.
The report from The Pack states that the Automotive & Transport design course was made up of Master and Undergraduate students (and tutors), who hailed from Coventry University’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities and were used to working with auto brands (this is the same area as the main base of electric motorcycle marque Maeving, so some very nice things appear to be happening in this area of the UK).
The new challenge required the diverse group to be paired with Super Soco’s CEO, Richard Jordan and his S.O. Manager (Daniel Frost), who both took the time to explore each design virtually.
Get this; The aim of this whole project was to attract ‘a new generation of riders who [had] yet to discover the delights of motorcycling.,’ to ‘explore design opportunities that were forward thinking beyond the tradition of the well-known step-through moped format.’
Obviously, this meant working beyond the original machine to pull out something novel, new, and guaranteed to catch our eye…and it all had to be workable with a Super Soco CPx frame.
Here are the top results of the project:
First Place: ‘Tude’ – Vivek Marathe
Individualism and practicality were the main descriptive, with the words ‘sustainable’ and ‘biodegradable’ marrying Marathe’s objective to ‘bring maximum utility such as storage, funk, delivery, commute, etc., while not compromising even slightly with the option of giving your personality to the vehicle.’
Second Place: ‘Fun n Go’ – Samuel Potts
Sci-f -inspired and stylish – but with a sprinkle of industrial minimalism.
Pott’s goal? “…making it attractive to young people, to create a sense of culture that has been missing in the UK.”
If the feature-piece front fairing, minimalist battery cover and ‘floating’ seat don’t do it, the aethetics certainly will.
Third Place: ‘EN3(Electric Neutral 3KWh)’ – Sandeep Vasireddy
Moped, but café racer.
Here, Vasireddy gunned for a clean build with minimal accoutrement, keeping true to a retro vibe (via the mock center and seating ergonomics) that still allows a rider to easily replace the battery (it leans outward to be removed with this concept)
“[Our] Automotive and Transport Design department regularly engage with car companies and we would like to work more with motorcycle companies,” adds Dr. Hutchinson, one of the university leaders of the project.
“Engaging with an industrial motorcycle company like Super Soco is an exceptional opportunity for students. It is crucial to enriching the education of young designers so they can understand the consequences of working in the commercial world.”
What do you think?
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