The KLEMENT: Our Vision of Future Urban Mobility

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZnFGabGoHY

We are looking at a future where more and more people will be migrating to cities, so we need to start thinking today about what these urban environments are going to look like, how people are going to move around in them, and what sort of solutions will make their lives easier. The KLEMENT is ŠKODA’s vision of an innovative concept for smoothly running micro mobility that delivers on sustainability.

Aykut Günderen throws more light on the issue: “Micro mobility concepts are advancing rapidly in numerous cities, like galaxies hurtling ever forwards through space. And, like galaxies, these individual concepts, while separate, form part of the same mobility cosmos, so we should see them forming an interlocking pattern.”

“Developments are progressing at lightning speed. Take the electric scooter sharing system: launched just a year ago, it’s now available in hundreds of cities. We do not know for certain what the future will look like. What we do know is that we are in for some profound changes,” says Vítek Ježek, founder of the Rekola bicycle sharing project in Prague, as he ponders what the future holds for mobility.

The KLEMENT combines minimalist design with maximum functionality. Although conventional features such as the chain, crank set and exposed cables have been stripped away, the KLEMENT has not been deprived of any functionality, reporting a range of 62 kilometres and a top speed of 45 km/h. The 4 kW rear-mounted motor has the flair to make rides brisk without compromising on maximum safety. Tilting the pedal forwards and backwards slightly controls the acceleration and braking.

Günderen explains what makes this solution so revolutionary: “Tilt-controlled acceleration and deceleration can also be found in children’s hoverboards, which are very easy and intuitive to master. We have innovated this feature by transferring it to a two-wheeler.”

ŠKODA was able to tap into more than a century’s car engineering experience in the development of this concept, harnessing tried-and-tested automotive technologies in the process. The KLEMENT responds fluidly to the signals it receives from the rider. In dangerous situations, riders instinctively back-pedal; this backward pressure activates the ABS-fitted brakes. On top of that, integrated LED lighting guarantees a safe ride through the night.

The KLEMENT is a vision embodying how people will be getting about in the future. It integrates technologies that fit in with the Smart Cities concept: GPS, driver-assistance systems, smartphone inductive charging and geofencing – the use of GPS for tracking within a virtual geographic boundary, so that the KLEMENT alerts riders when they enter or leave a particular area. Besides these state-of-the-art technologies, the KLEMENT can pride itself on a core contemporary value: sustainability, as exemplified by the regenerative braking – the KLEMENT recaptures energy generated by braking and saves it for use later.