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Otherlab puts its pedal-free solar scooter on sale in California at $4,495
Otherlab has put the Lightfoot, a solar scooter that tops out at 20 mph, on sale for $4,495, with a $100 reservation. Founder Saul Griffith built it deliberately spare, betting that short-trip riders want fewer features.
The Product Desk · Product desk
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What happened
- Griffith says he started the project after public data showed that 52 percent of US passenger trips, across all modes of travel, run under three miles.
- The Lightfoot is a 137-pound pod on wheels, with two large solar panels on its sides and a bench seat that fits a rider and a passenger.
- Griffith says the Lightfoot is built from common off-the-shelf parts, so a neighborhood bike shop can service it once the solar panels are removed.
- Otherlab is in talks with resorts, campuses and fleet operators, and plans to sell in markets like Vietnam, where Hanoi restricts gas-powered scooters from 2027.
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Why it matters
- constraint The battery is sealed in and the scooter is built to live outdoors, so charging is tied to wherever it parks, and a run of cloudy days means running a cord out to the sidewalk or patio.
- exposure There is no alarm and no GPS, where Infinite Machine's Olto has both, so a stolen Lightfoot is only as findable as the bike lock and Bluetooth tag its owner adds.
- precedent Griffith is deliberately not scaling fast, calling the micromobility field a 'bloodbath' of firms that 'nearly all raised too much money and tried to be gigantic immediately,' so a slow, regional rollout is what buyers are signing up for.
At New York traffic lights, and even mid-ride, cyclists pulled out their phones to photograph the Lightfoot, according to WIRED's reviewer. [16] Otherlab, the research and design firm founded by inventor Saul Griffith, calls the vehicle its "smile machine." [5][7] The attention is real. Demand is a different measure: whether someone takes a second trip the next morning.
The product underneath is deliberately plain. The Lightfoot has no pedals, which is what classes it as an electric scooter for the bike lane instead of an ebike. [2] Griffith frames the missing pedals as a bet on demand: "I think for every one person who wants something with pedals, there's nine people who don't give a fuck about pedals," he said. [17]
The plainness goes past the drivetrain. There is no app, no speed modes and no turn signals, and a PIN is the only built-in security. [9] Griffith's pitch for the solar panels is modest: "Solar can make a meaningful contribution," he said. [15] For a solo rider in a sunny place, less to set up counts in the Lightfoot's favor.
That sits awkwardly against Otherlab's own plan. Griffith says the first production runs should "allow the company to study how people are using it," [14] yet the Lightfoot logs nothing. [9] Whatever usage data Otherlab gets will be what riders tell them.
For a buyer, whether a single rider or a campus fleet, what settles it is repeat rides in week two and week three. With nothing recorded on the Lightfoot, [9] the only way to get that number is to watch the rider.
What to watch
- Whether Otherlab lands any of the resort, campus or fleet deals Griffith says he is pursuing, and on what terms.
- Whether the no-app, no-GPS design survives contact with fleet buyers who want usage data and theft recovery.
- Whether a solar scooter sells outside sunny states once Otherlab expands north from California.