Suzuki’s Four-Legged Electric Scooter Can Climb Stairs
Stairs are no match for the individually articulating legs of the MOQBA.
If you’ve ever looked at a set of stairs and thought, “I should be able to ride a scooter on those,” Suzuki may have just the thing you need. The automaker is planning to unveil its MOQBA concept that has its wheels built on four legs to help — you guessed it — climb stairs.
The MOQBA, short for Modular Quad Base Architecture, looks like someone took the functionality of Boston Dynamics’ Spot and combined it with the mobility of an e-scooter. The MOQBA’s main purpose is to get you from point A to point B, whether that involves flat roads or staircases. Beyond that, Suzuki’s modular design means it can be customized for a ton of different tasks.
Save your legs by hopping on the MOQBA instead.
MODULAR MOBILITY
Suzuki says the MOQBA will have three riding modes: Chair mode, Standing mode, and Stretcher mode. While it looks like you can ride the MOQBA like any other e-scooter in Chair mode, the Standing mode looks like it’ll make ascending staircases much more comfortable. The Stretcher mode lays the seat down flat and looks like it was designed for emergency-related use.
Outside revealing those riding modes, Suzuki is light on details with its scooter concept. Even with that little information, it already looks like the MOQBA will be more than just a scooter for getting around town. In some images, we see the MOQBA being used in a wheelchair setup, but also as a way to pick up various objects like a trash can, packages, or baskets. With so many different uses, it feels more like a multipurpose vehicle than a simple e-scooter.
It’s more than just an e-scooter.
PLEASE MAKE IT TO PRODUCTION
The market for electric scooters is expanding quickly, but as you might imagine, there aren’t many out there with independent legs and the ability to get up stairs. Even if it’s a concept that might not ever get made, Suzuki’s MOQBA has opened our eyes to what a modular electric scooter could look like.
Most concepts feature a wild, impractical design, but it feels like the MOQBA could find a home in the real world since it solves a real mobility issue. We’ll get an in-person look at Suzuki’s concept at the Japan Mobility Show, along with some of its more realistic designs, like a motorized wheelchair, a hydrogen-powered motorcycle, and the automaker’s first global EV called the eVX.
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