Akram Mobility HyperCycle Prototype

HyperCycle is a folding four wheeled, two seater Electric Pedal Assisted Cycle and this is our latest prototype. The project started in 2018 and has been self-funded ever since while doing various jobs in related fields, the latest of which was heavily involved in creating the Heart X1 Electric hybrid aircraft.

The goal was to develop something that brings Hypercar thinking into the realm of pedal assisted cycles and give it a radical twist. What we came up with is the most exciting form of urban mobility imaginable that brings a purified car-like form with folding bike convenience and a true luxury finish.

The vehicle uses extensive custom engineered components where nothing but bespoke was good enough. This is where composites make a lot of sense with their ease of conformance to specific shapes and incredible strength to weight ratio. In the case of the project so far, a custom made tyre was crucial and so was cast using flexible PU resin to save both time and money. The next production intent prototype will move onto a carbon monocoque chassis.

A variety of machines, tools and methods have been used so far, including:

• DMG Mori 5-Axis CNC
• Stepcraft CNC Router
• Markforged Onyx One 3D printer for both end use parts and tooling
• Manual Mill and Lathe for secondary operations or simple parts
• Soldering iron
• Waterjet Cutting and sheet metal bending
• TIG welder
• Tube bender
• A lot of hand tools and coffee

The design has been evolved through six prototypes to find the best form factor and geometry but ended up with:

• Flat, skateboard style - all touch points fold flat below the top wheel height
• VESC/48V BLDC 250W motor from Igus
• 75+ Aluminium 6082 parts
• 25+ 304 Stainless Steel parts
• 50+ 3D Printed in Markforged Onyx filament
• Custom wheels and tyres (Xencast PX90)

So far, with over 2000km of real-world testing, we have already come up with ideas for where and how we want to take our production version.