Like the Gogoro, the Inu is attractive, futuristic, and full of high-tech features. It has a smartphone dock that's compatible with iOS and Android devices. It has a colorful display that fills the handlebar, lights that trim the wheels, and a built-in alarm. The Inu also folds up, like some other scooters do, but it can do this on its own with internal motors — there's no pulling on straps or handles.

Unlike the Gogoro, the Inu doesn't require you to swap batteries or rely on a network of charging stations. It has a 40-kilometer (25-mile) range, and can be fully charged from a standard wall outlet in three hours. It has hydraulic disc brakes in the front wheel and regenerative braking in the back to help maintain that impressive range. It promises comfort, too, in the form of shock absorbers and a leather seat.

The Inu might not be as fast as something like a Gogoro or a Vespa, but that's on purpose — the scooter is speed-limited to 15 km/h so that riders don't need a motorcycle license. (Green Ride says that speed will change in each country according to local regulations.)

But the most strikingly unique thing about the Inu is its design. It's flashy and bold without being obnoxious. The curved, aluminum frame and spare use of color make it look as much like a fashion statement as it does a means of personal transport.

The Inu is flashy and bold

This is mostly thanks to Ori Yemini, the lead designer of the Inu. At 36, Yemini is relatively young, but has held a number of jobs in industrial and automotive design — the latter including a stint at Pininfarina, the company behind a number of famous Ferrari designs.

"The philosophy was to make it peaceful, because most cities' architecture and scenographies are hard lines," Yemini says. "Everything is hard and pointy. In order to make it unique, I thought to make it round as much as I can."

Yemini went on to describe a rather unique approach taken by the team at Green Ride while developing the Inu. They used Facebook to study, on a larger scale, the habits of people who work in city centers. "We tried to understand their way of life, what they hear, the atmosphere that they live in," he says. The next step was to see where they lived, and better understand what surrounded them. "We did virtual travel around the world with Google Maps," Yemini says almost sheepishly, "and we lived for a few hours in some major cities, trying to understand the lights of the cities, the way people dress."

From there, Yemini set out on designing the Inu. "I had inspiration for almost every part: for the frame, for the wings, for the wheels, for the seat," he says. "After I lived the life of those people, we made a market in front of our eyes and we had almost, although they were virtual, we had them in front of our eyes the whole time we designed the product."