Mobilize Solo Concept and Ileo Concept explore new ways of travelling and charging vehicles

The mobility sector is at the centre of society’s transformation. Private cars are losing ground in cities as users and policymakers shift towards new alternatives for travel. Mobilize is a step ahead of these trends and offers two answers to the new challenges surrounding urban and electric mobility: Solo Concept and Ileo Concept.

Solo Concept: an extension of yourself

Solo Concept is a forward-looking mobility project and part of Mobilize’s aim to work on all forms of mobility. It is a single occupancy vehicle designed to have a minimal footprint (1.37 m long).

More broadly, Solo Concept illustrates the way Mobilize is thinking beyond current automotive conventions: it embodies ultra-light, free-flowing and agile mobility. The project came from Renault’s Indian studio, which is well known for its remarkable inventiveness, and the designers’ initial idea involved a skateboard with an umbrella.

With Solo Concept, the body and object meld in a way that feels like wearing clothes. The driver, here, moves around in a cool, calm semi-seated position.

Mobilize also sees this concept as an opportunity to partner with players in the fashion sector, for example to create nomadic accessories for personalisation (clothes, bags and luggage).

Reinforced protection on a 3-wheel vehicle

Solo Concept moves at low speeds (up to 25 km/h). Drivers do not require a licence, safety belt or helmet, and have a joystick for a steering wheel (a nod to the videogaming world). Its enveloping body, airbag, and foot-activated emergency button to stop the car if there is a risk provide a good level of safety. Solo Concept, in other words, provides better protection than scooters, one-wheelers and other personal transporters in the event of an accident.

Solo Concept has three wheels: two for traction at the front and a smaller one for steering at the rear. Its body is asymmetric and only opens on the left-hand side. Inside, the reclining seat swivels forward to open up a deep storage compartment designed to fit a bag. The cockpit and body can be easily hosed down. Solo Concept’s structure is made with 50% recycled materials and the vehicle is 95% recyclable.

Three charging options

Several Solo Concept vehicles can slot together to occupy less space in car parks: one standard parking space can fit up to six Solo Concept units in single file.

There are three charging options: plug-in, inductive (wireless) and switching batteries. With inductive technology, one point can charge several slotted Solo Concept vehicles at the same time (the one at the front is plugged into the terminal and uses induction to transfer electricity to the others behind it). Solo Concept’s battery can also be removed and charged at home (like an e-bike battery).

Dimensions: Length: 1.37 m - Width: 0.90 m - Height: 1.75 m

“Solo Concept is fun, functional, and true to the Mobilize brand’s values. It was designed to take up as little space as possible in cities and to include as many safety features as possible inside, plus weather protection. We also worked on coming up with a posture that the user finds both comfortable and relaxed, pointing to the vehicle’s ultra-mobility,” explains Patrick Lecharpy, VP Design, Mobilize.

Ileo Concept: modular and movable power totems designed as spaces for life

Ileo Concept was designed by Mobilize and Patrick Jouin iD, and encompasses a series of features including charging points. The infrastructure elements are movable and sustainable, blend into the geographies around us, contribute to connecting them and help to bring electric travel accessible everyone.

With Ileo Concept, Mobilize is showcasing its vision of tomorrow’s public spaces for mobility. It comprises three conceptual street furniture items. These multifunctional and modular totems add up to a hub of amenities:

• A charging point (22 kW DC) for electric vehicles
• A micro-mobility station equipped with a stand to secure electric scooters or bicycles, and standard connectors
• A living area with a seat, shelf and screen stand

“As an energy supplier in public spaces, Mobilize is also thinking about facilities that bring them to life. With these three emblematic objects, we want to create new representations of energy in cities, and at the same time new positive rituals for users. We want to take a new look at urban development to treat people to new experiences around light-weight infrastructure that adapts to climate change,” says Thomas Ehrmann, Chief Design Strategy, Mobilize.

The totems fitted onto mobile and modular stands blend seamlessly into public or private spaces. They are easy to install so you can move and adapt them whenever your wants and needs change.

These charging islands, in other words, are designed for people and contribute to reducing carbon and noise levels in villages, cities, shopping centres, car parks and motorway service stations. The totem, with its roof that can be covered with vegetation, forms a shady canopy.

Depending on their location and function, they can also display the Mobilize brand or that of a city, private operator or energy supplier. Ileo Concept is modular and can use second-life batteries from the automotive industry and pair them with photovoltaic panels. The components used in Ileo Concept are 50% made with recycled materials and 95% recyclable.

Mobilize asked French designer Patrick Jouin to envision the future of mobility on account of his expertise in urban design. The goal for this collaboration is to offer people-friendly places with charging facilities that adapt to urban, suburban and rural communities’ needs.

“By 2025, trading energy for goods or services may well be a widespread practice. The changes in the climate are encouraging cities to create cool oases within them. Mobility systems will no longer be centred around the individual: they will be collective. That way, travelling users will become stakeholders in a resilient system,” predicts Patrick Jouin, designer and founder of Patrick Jouin iD.

Ileo Concept will not be produced in the near future but is part of a holistic approach to support Mobilize’s plan to roll out an ecosystem of electric charging points in public spaces.