Japanese engineer, Kuniako Saito and his team at Cocoa Motors have created a five pound, lithium powered, personal transporter that fits in your laptop bag.
At first glance we are all thinking the same thing, “that looks safe.” Right? What could possibly go wrong when you stand on what appears to be a motorized bathroom scale and ride it around town?
The first piece of trash or sidewalk crack you hit is likely to send you flying, inevitably snapping your wrists like a piece of balsa wood at a five year olds karate exhibition but, it sure does look fun.
The transporter reportedly reaches speeds of 6 mph over an emergency-room-doctor-salivating distance of 7 miles on just a three hour charge. What’s more is its powerful enough to push a person in a wheelchair with a driver on board.
Much like the bulkier and more expensive Segway, WalkCar is navigated by simply shifting a rider’s weight from side to side. Unlike a Segway, WalkCar automatically starts moving as soon as the rider steps on and stops when they jump off.
Saito’s CocoaMotors website currently states that Kickstarter campaign preorders for the product will begin in October 2015, with an estimated price tag of $800.
Source: Reuters
