In 2010 Mercedes-Benz revealed a tentative step into the two-wheeled market in the form of an electric scooter concept made under its subsidiary Smart brand.
Over the next couple of years the project progressed, and by 2012 Mercedes confirmed that the bike would be in showrooms by 2014 – but it wasn’t.
However, not all is lost because with deadly rival BMW now in the electric scooter game, and the technology for electric bikes taking huge strides forwards, don’t write off the idea of a Mercedes-made scooter just yet.
These pictures are the design patent images for what would have been the production scooter. The single-sided front end of the concept is swapped for a conventional fork, while the iPhone-based instruments of the show bike are replaced with a proper, standalone dashboard. The swingarm is also different, with a hub-mounted motor clearly visible instead of the concept’s solid rear wheel with the motor hidden inside. Watch this space.
By Ben Purvis
