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 of 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 dexterous 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 in this case, the WalkCar is a totally new product I have started from scratch. I want to show the world that Japan can 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.
— Source: www.motherboard.vice.com
