Those eggheads at the Smart Cities group at MIT are a clever bunch, coming up with a design concept for an electric scooter that folds up into a package scarcely larger than a wheeled carry-on suitcase. In the Utopian vision for such bikes, you'd ride one to work, then fold it up and roll it right into the office, where it will take up very little space. But wait. This idea gets even more appealing:

As depicted in the conceptual rendering above, there's a plan to rent the electric bikes in numerous locations throughout a city, where a rider could take a bike one-way, dropping it off near a destination in a different part of town.

The scooter's not bad looking, either. If you like this, wait 'til next year, when the group will be rolling out a foldable electric car. [InfoSync and Technology Info]

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