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Japanese inventor reveals the world's 'first car in a bag'
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We may not have the hoover-board just yet, but a Japanese engineer has created the latest innovation of transport that is small enough to be carried in a backpack.
Kuniako Saito and his team at Cocoa Motors have unveiled the latest must-have-gadget and the world's 'first car in a bag', leaving behind parking for good.
That is how the twenty-six-year-old described the "WalkCar" transporter, which is the size of a laptop and has similar functions to a Segway.
Weighing less than seven pounds, the four-wheeled ride is a lightweight aluminium board and is powered by lithium batteries and can carry a person up to 120kg (265 pounds).
Minimum effort is required get around using the WalkCar, as it starts automatically once the rider stands on it, and stops as soon as they step off. When it comes to changing the direction, the user simply shifts their weight.
Cocoa Motors: WalkCar - YouTube
An interest in electric car motor control systems is behind Saito's new form of transport.
"I thought, "what if we could just carry our transportation in our bags, would that mean we'd always have our transportation with us to ride on?" and my friend asked me to make one, since I was doing my masters in engineering specifically on car motor control systems," he told Reuters.
Despite the obvious comparisons with the Segway and skateboards, Saito is confident that the WalkCar will compete better.
"Maybe I just see it that way, but it seems to me that the U.S. is always the one which invents new products and Japan is the one which takes those products and improves on them to make a better version if 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," he said.
Cocoa Motors: WalkCar - YouTube
The WalkCar can reach top speeds of 6.2 miles per hour, for distances of up to 7.4 miles after three hours of charging. Saito says customers will be able to reserve their WalkCars from autumn 2015 on the crowd-funding website Kickstarter for around £500.
Check out the video below to the see how the vehicle functions in action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvG_356itPs
