Challenges around bicycles and Segway-style personal transport designs are dissuading people from adopting them. Personal safety is a primary concern, but Kevin Easom, founder of Forzuna, has identified appearance, lack of versatility, weight and the more prosaic fact of arriving dishevelled, among other significant problems.

Previously an active extreme sportsman running a busy design agency, Kevin was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis around ten years ago. As his mobility reduced, he found the available assistance vehicles inadequate for a busy lifestyle. Drawing on his wife’s experience as an occupational therapist with an interest in assistive technology, the two of them set about designing a prototype vehicle.

When they took it out on test, the pair were surprised by the interest the vehicle sparked with women and young people. Given its inherent stability and safe design, Kevin realised it had potential as a short-range electric personal vehicle for people unable or unwilling to walk or use a bicycle.

Understanding that practicality must meet style if people are to buy it, Kevin has drawn upon his design experience to make the vehicle desirable as well as safe and versatile. “Our vehicle looks good and its capability makes it especially attractive. Mountain bikes and BMX-style bikes are selling well, bikes with baskets are not, because people want something that you can do cool things on, even if they don’t want to do them. So, we’ve built something at the cutting edge of mobility, a machine that can go off road and do cool stuff, even though most people probably won’t want to,” he explains.

Kevin believes his background, which is not within the mobility or transport industries, left him short of credibility among his peers. The £55,000 Innovate UK Net Zero Living Programme funding helped with that but more importantly provided access to additional design support. Design Council consultant Jonathan Ball provided a key element of that support and remains engaged in the project. The opportunity to work with the Design Council to create detailed customer profiles was also extremely useful and the funding enabled a deep dive into the regulatory landscape in which a production vehicle would operate.

Reduce and recycle

Kevin says using his vehicle reduces carbon emissions compared with cars, mopeds and public transport. The bigger challenge was to minimise manufacturing emissions and identify sustainable materials and techniques that facilitate end-of-life recycling; everything except the circuit board is now fully recyclable or can be built from recyclable parts.

Vehicle size is critical to ensuring disabled users can access everyday doorways, trains and other spaces, and it is an important safety consideration for others. Kevin has therefore kept the machine’s dimensions within the proprioceptive zone, the perceived perimeter of the space one’s body occupies, making vehicle and user as one.

Forzuna’s personal vehicle could also revolutionise mobility for many disabled people, easing daily life and providing genuine, dignified options for travel. But this relatively small market represents only the tip of Kevin’s ambition.

Millions of mopeds are used as personal transport and utility vehicles around the world. We see this as a major market because our vehicle can do everything a moped can. A trailer can be plugged into the back, equipped with a variety of adaptations for different jobs. We want to replace all those mopeds with something a third of the size, that works better off road and is built for stability – there’s no need for a stand or to lean it over when you park, because it won’t fall over.

– Kevin Easom, Founder, Forzuna

Today, Kevin uses his ‘Mark 1’ prototype as his personal transport. His aim is to bring a refined machine to market as the first pedestrian-safe micro-mobility device. Powered vehicles currently should not be operated on pavements because none have been designed for safety in the event of a collision with a pedestrian. An important part of his work is to assess how the vehicle would exceed Euro NCAP and RoSPA safety standards.

Innovate UK Net Zero Living Programme support has helped Kevin progress his personal mobility concept to the prototype stage. Forzuna continues to seek funding opportunities as Kevin further refines the vehicle and develops use cases while the regulatory landscape for its employment evolves. He envisages individuals using it as an alternative to walking or cycling; mobility impaired people relying upon it as an essential enabler to everyday life; and even a place for it at major venues, where vehicles following pre-programmed routes might deliver a new kind of tour experience.