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From Taipei to Saigon and from Florence to Madrid, to say nothing of the Vespa revivals in New York and San Francisco, the streets are buzzing with scooters. Although they burn less gas than cars and take up far less space, they're not without their problems: white laundry in these towns requires extra attention, and riding behind one invariably leads to coughing.

To solve this, MIT Professor of Architecture and Media Arts and Sciences William J. Mitchell and his students in MIT's Smart Cities Group have come up with an electric scooter that houses motors inside the wheels itself. The design retains the space efficiency of a traditional scooter sans the emissions, and reduces costs and parts. "A typical gas scooter has about 1,000 parts, but ours only has 150." The lack of a conventional engine also enables the scooter's folding design, increasing its urban appeal.

The forward-looking Mitchell and his team have also thought about how the scooters could be presented to the public, as cost-efficient rentals. Read an in-depth article on the project here.

via science daily