To die-hard petrolheads, electric scooters are harbingers of a dark future. They’re seen as soulless machines that place economy and practicality far above style and emotion.
Luckily for us, there are those that see potential for more. Last month we featured a gob-smacking BMW C-based sprint racer. Today, we’re featuring a very different but equally astounding EV.

You’re looking at a Vectrix VX-1?or rather, the remnants of one. In stock form, the Polish-made VX-1 is a pretty vanilla maxi-scooter, promising 65Nm of torque, a top speed of 75 mph (120 kph) and a theoretical maximum range of 173 miles (280 km).
It has some noteworthy features: like a throttle that can be ‘closed’ to slow it down with regenerative braking, and a planetary gearbox with a direct drive onto the back wheel.
This concept?dubbed ‘Hope’?retains all of that functionality, but wraps it in a package straight out of The Rocketeer. It’s the work of Samuel Aguiar, who operates as Shiny Hammer out of Saint-Quentin, a couple of hours north of Paris. Samuel designs both motorcycles and furniture, which explains his approach here.
?I was looking for a design that you would want to hug,? he explains, ?without any aggressive shapes. Like a blend between a pre-A Porsche 356, an iPhone and a Pokémon.?

?The original scooter from Vectrix is not really my thing, but when you take off all the secondary elements on it, you find a very cool and well-built base. It ...