WalkCar Is Like a Segway Had a Baby With a Skateboard

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WalkCar Is Like a Segway Had a Baby With a Skateboard

It’s a means of transportation that fits in your backpack.
Rachel Pick
New York, US

Have you ever wished Segways weren't so dorky-looking? Meet WalkCar.

Billed as the "smallest electric vehicle" and "car in a bag," WalkCar looks like a laptop on four wheels. You bend your body to signal your intended direction, and WalkCar follows your movement. The effect is sort of like a skateboard that moves under its own steam.

Developed by Cocoa Motors in Japan, WalkCar can carry a passenger up to 265 lbs for over seven miles on just a three-hour charge of its battery, and can reach speeds of 6.2 miles per hour. The promotional video shows just how dextrous WalkCar is, as it speeds through a slalom course and ferries its rider up a steep incline.

Creator Kuniako Saito told Reuters that in his view, usually the US innovates a product and Japan refines it. "But here in this case, the WalkCar is a totally new product I have started from scratch. So I also want to show the world that Japan can also be innovative."

So far, it's just a prototype, and Cocoa Motors plans to raise funds for a commercial distribution this fall on Kickstarter. The projected cost is around $800, so start saving.