WalkCar, from the Japanese Cocoa Motors, is a portable electric board of laptop size, which can take you and can be taken pretty much anywhere.
If you want to go electric, the options are many- bikes, scooters, skateboards, the market is full of options. But, when it comes to portability and size, even the smallest and lightest require a parking spot, or are just that little bit too bulky to carry around.
Now, something that has always seemed like the “cool kid on the block” to me is the Solowheel. The first time I saw it in use for real was on the streets of Berlin, ridden by some guy, gliding around the obstacles on the road. I know the Solowheel has the image of being slightly pretentious and all, but honestly, I fell in love with it there and then. I started checking prices and shipping options. Unfortunately, it was just that little bit over the budget that I was willing to allocate for it.
So you can imagine my surprise and excitement when I heard about the WalkCar, the new and improved version of my beloved electric unicycle. It is an invention of the Japanese company Cocoa Motors, and it is a slim electric board, made of aluminium, with four small wheels. In weight (2-3kg) and size it is identical to a standard laptop, and it can easily fit in a backpack when it is not in use.
The WalkCar can reach a top speed of 10 km/h (6.2 m/h), for a distance of 12 km (7.4m), carrying a person of up to 120 kg (265 pounds). All this is after only three hours of charging, which is possible through a USB. Riding it is pretty easy too- navigation is achieved by shifting of the rider’s weight, but that is not the only thing it can do. The maker claims that it can also push a wheelchair up an incline, which means that people could find many different uses for it, besides transportation.
The Japanese maker has not released much more detail, but there is an upcoming Kickstarter campaign, scheduled for early October, where people will be able to acquire a WalkCar for about $800. If all goes well, first deliveries to the Northern Hemisphere should happen in early spring 2016. Stay tuned if interested.
Image (c) Cocoa Motors
