The collapsible electric Tatamel Bike is quietly changing how a city moves

Tatamel Bike by Icoma
Monocle Design Awards 2026: Smartest mobility solution, Japan

A decade ago, industrial designer Takamitsu Ikoma had an idea for a scooter that wouldn’t require parking space. He had been thinking about it ever since moving from his hometown in central Japan to attend design school in Tokyo, which forced him to leave behind his motorcycle. In the densely populated capital, the monthly fee for a parking spot would have exceeded his budget. The scooter he dreamed up was a compact, electric-powered two-wheeler that could be collapsed, like origami, to the size of a suitcase and kept near the front door of a small apartment or under a desk at the office. Without an engine, it wouldn’t reek of petrol fumes or leak chain grease.

Ikoma’s Tokyo-based startup, Icoma, finally brought this idea to production in 2024 with its foldable electric Tatamel Bike (tatameru means “foldable”). When Monocle visits Icoma’s workshop, set in a cluster of industrial buildings in Matsudo city, northeast of Tokyo, an employee dressed in coveralls is assembling half-a-dozen scooters. Each one is handbuilt from a chassis and folding mechanism that are produced at a factory in Ota ward and combined with off-the-shelf and 3D printer-made parts. Outside, Ikoma demonstrates how the Tatamel Bike’s handlebars, seat and back wheel tuck inside of and under the body. In a matter of seconds, the scooter becomes a compact box that stands on its own or can be rolled around. “It’s very difficult to build a shape-changing vehicle that doesn’t cut corners on safety. Making it function properly and transform reliably is a huge challenge,” he says.

The Tatamel Bike is no hot-rod – it has a top speed of 45km/h and can travel up to 30km when fully charged. But that’s not as limiting as it might sound. “In the city, most people travel an average distance of 10km to 20km at a time,” says Ikoma. When Monocle takes a test ride, the scooter is stable and responsive, thanks to its electric drivetrain, rigid frame and robust suspension. And it’s not just a scooter: the battery can be used as a portable power source, capable of charging devices or used as backup power during outages.

Ikoma had no prior experience building scooters before the Tatamel Bike. He knew of the history of modern foldable motorcycles, going back to the Welbike, a British military invention that was parachuted to the battlefront during the Second World War. Still, designing his own road-ready scooter from scratch seemed ambitious. So he started with something familiar: a toy. His first job out of design school was with Japanese toy maker Takara Tomy, where he worked on Transformer robots that shape-shift into vehicles, weapons and animals. After stints developing AI-equipped robots and home appliances, he founded Icoma in 2021.

Building a miniature version of the scooter helped him refine the mechanics. He carried it everywhere, using it to explain his idea to engineers, designers and potential backers. Feedback – some of it through social media – fed into later versions. By the time he began constructing full-scale prototypes, the project was already attracting attention from scooter enthusiasts and media, and had won design awards in Japan and overseas. Today, with only seven employees, Icoma is racing to keep up with demand. In the past two years, it has sold about 100 Tatamel Bikes at ¥498,000 (€2,700) apiece. Buyers these days must wait six months to a year for delivery. Scaling up production remains a challenge, but the venture is turning a small profit.

Ikoma is considering upgrades to the foldable scooter. He is also exploring a range of new ideas, including AI-equipped, motorised, self-driving suitcases and smaller, lighter scooters with built-in robotics. Toyota recently hired him to collaborate on a Segway-like electric, self-balancing two-wheeled transporter. In the future, Ikoma envisions that more vehicles will behave like robots. The transforming feature of his scooter, he says, is only the beginning.
icoma.co.jp