Poimo is a folding electric bicycle made by a research team at the University of Tokyo, Japan. The difference from normal folding is that it is used by inflating air like a balloon. You don’t have to look for a parking lot when you commute, you just need to carry an empty bag and just blow air when you ride.
Poimo (Portable and Inflatable Mobility) swells easily like an air mattress. It is made of flexible thermoplastic polyurethane and maintains a pressure of 10PSI or less to support a weight similar to that of a normal bicycle. It can be fully inflated in less than a minute with an electric pump, but even if you don’t have an electric pump, you can inflate it with a manual pump.
Of course, it doesn’t mean that you can start right away to your destination just by putting in the air. Then, you need to install additional components, such as front and rear electric motors, batteries, and a wireless controller that mounts to the left and right handles. The total weight is 5.5kg. The development team expects to be able to significantly reduce weight when it is actually commercialized.
This product adopts an inflatable structure instead of a frame like a regular bicycle, so many advantages can be expected. The battery life and range can be maximized according to the weight reduction of the vehicle body. Of course, even if it is damaged in an accident, exchanging the inflatable frame is much cheaper than replacing an ordinary bicycle entirely. If it collides with a pedestrian, it can be seen that it can act as an air cushion, so it can be much better than hitting a normal metal frame. Related information can be found here .