Deconstructing Electric Rideables | Design for Manufacturing & Scale

This project involved reverse engineering electric kick scooters and hoverboards for a micro electric mobility brand that was importing key metal components from abroad, assembling locally, and selling in the domestic market. While the design concept was theirs, the manufacturable design files were not in their control, making low-quantity overseas manufacturing expensive and limiting flexibility. To enable local fabrication, the client needed to reverse engineer their own product and rebuild production-ready design data.

We analyzed each subsystem including structural frames, metal parts, enclosures, electronics housings, drive components, and fasteners from a Design for Manufacturing (DFM) perspective. The core requirements were to generate STEP and IGES files for CNC machining, sand casting, and investment casting, while also creating high-quality 3D surface models for branding, rendered images, and animation. Engineering accuracy and surface aesthetics were developed in parallel and combined into complete, consistent assemblies.

By integrating manufacturing-focused engineering design with branding-oriented surface modeling, we eliminated duplicate design effort and streamlined the overall workflow. This approach delivered measurable outcomes:

50% reduction in overall design time

40% reduction in supply chain and sourcing costs

Enabled indigenous manufacturing of critical components

Restored full ownership of manufacturable and branding-ready design data