{"id":13374,"date":"2011-08-31T16:16:52","date_gmt":"2011-08-31T22:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.sustainablog.org\/?p=13374"},"modified":"2011-08-31T16:16:52","modified_gmt":"2011-08-31T22:16:52","slug":"electric-folding-bike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/electric-folding-bike\/","title":{"rendered":"Help Fund &#8211; and Design &#8211; a New Electric Folding Bike"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"ebike 6 compressed\" width=\"1170\" height=\"658\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ExaziZTJQJc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Though I&#8217;ve never tried one out, I really like the idea of <a href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/folding-bikes-sustainable-transportation\/\">folding bikes<\/a> &#8212; electric assisted or not &#8212; as a solution to the &#8220;first and last mile problem&#8221; with mass transit&#8230; that is, getting to and from transit stops. Ride to the stop, fold it up, and carry it on&#8230; no risking those front-of-the-bus bike racks, or dirty looks on a crowded train. I must admit, though, that when I&#8217;ve watched demonstrations of the folding process itself, I wondered whether a degree in engineering, or experience with origami, was necessary. Perhaps it&#8217;s just my fear of things mechanical, but it often strikes me as a pretty complex process.<\/p>\n<p>Or maybe not: LA-based designer <a href=\"http:\/\/gabrielwartofskydesign.com\/\">Gabriel Wartofsky<\/a> has been working on an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.consciouscommuter.com\/\">electric folding bike design<\/a> since 2008&#8230; and &#8220;intuitive folding&#8221; is part of the concept. Additionally, Wartofsky&#8217;s addressing a couple of other elements that might keep potential buyers away: weight, and the threat of chain grease on your pants. He&#8217;s developed a prototype that looks awfully nice &#8211; check it out in the video above &#8211; and that test riders like so far. But has he gotten this concept right? And, even if he has, how the hell do you take such a concept to market without a nice wad of cash?<\/p>\n<p>Like other entrepreneurs, Wartofsky&#8217;s gone to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/1585753369\/folding-electric-bike-for-commuters\">Kickstarter<\/a> for the funding problem&#8230; but he&#8217;s figured out a way to address the potential design problems there, too. Merging crowdfunding and crowdsourcing, Wartofsky&#8217;s going to invite anyone who pledges $10 or more to his effort to participate in &#8220;online product planning webinar sessions.&#8221; Think of it as &#8220;pay to play crowdsourcing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Kickstarter (and other crowdfunding sites) follow the typical fundraising model of &#8220;rewards for pledges&#8221; (yeah, like those interminable pitches on NPR)&#8230; but, quite frankly, I don&#8217;t need a bumper sticker, postcard, or t-shirt. But the opportunity to give feedback on the design? That&#8217;s pretty unique&#8230; and pretty intriguing. Even if your ideas suck (hey, I&#8217;m not a designer), you get insight into the process behind creating a product like this&#8230; and that&#8217;s kind of cool.<\/p>\n<p>Check out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/1585753369\/folding-electric-bike-for-commuters\">Gabriel&#8217;s project<\/a> &#8211; the story behind his love of bikes is really interesting, too. Consider shaking loose a few dollars&#8230; he&#8217;s got a ways to go before hitting his goal of $25,000. And let us know what you think of the design.<\/p>\n<p>via <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/GreenSmith\/status\/108935898325991424\">@greensmith<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Though I&#8217;ve never tried one out, I really like the idea of folding bikes &#8212; electric assisted or not &#8212; as a solution to the &#8220;first and last mile problem&#8221;&nbsp;[ &hellip; ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":16826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,79],"tags":[5317,1890,5318,4637,5319,4521,1529],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Electric Folding Bike Concept Needs Cash, Feedback<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Designer Gabriel Wartofsky needs to fund the development of his electric folding bike concept, and get consumer feedback. He&#039;s using Kickstarter for both.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/electric-folding-bike\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Electric Folding Bike Concept Needs Cash, Feedback\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Designer Gabriel Wartofsky needs to fund the development of his electric folding bike concept, and get consumer feedback. 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