Walkcar Personal Transport Device Is Ridiculous and Brilliant in Equal Measures

In all fairness, the Walkcar does seem to move you faster than anyone can walk. Actually, you could say it moves at the speed of brisk jogging. Not only that, but it beats any folding bike in terms of practicality and reduced dimensions, being small enough to fit in your backpack or bag.

But what exactly is Walkcar? Well, it's hard to describe it without making a reference about flowerpot stands. It looks like a flat surface with the wheels from two different office chair screwed into it. Its lack of ergonomics is blatant, and yet you will want one after watching the clip below.

In all honesty, it's not that much different from those so-called hoverboards that have been banned in most of the civilized world. Unlike those in-flight hazards, though, the Walkcar is roughly the size of a laptop, with the notable exception of its thickness, which is considerably greater.

Even so, you can seamlessly fit it into your bag, just be careful each time you pull it out so you don't mistake it for an actual notebook. Stepping onto your MacBook Pro could have dire consequences for the Apple product.

The Walkcar is the creation of Kuniaki Sato, who came up with the idea when he moved to Tokyo. He noticed that getting around in such a busy metropolis required a different approach, and decided that a mix between using public transport and walking was the best solution.

But walking can be exhausting, so what if you could pack your car in your bag? That must have sounded very ridiculous, but only until Kuniaki Sato first introduced the Walkcar. Well, the car reference might have still sounded a bit off even after that, but that doesn't mean that having a personal transportation device the size of a 13" notebook wasn't a great feat.

The Walkcar will go for one hour in exchange for an equal time spent charging. Sato does not reveal any info about its battery, but considering how the whole gizmo is just over six pounds heavy (2.8 kg) and pretty thin, there isn't much room to hide a large battery pack.

Controls will be instantly familiar to anyone who's ridden a Segway - you lean in the direction you want to go and, as the video shows, it even comes with an emergency stop method where you just need to jump off the device.

And then there's the price aspect. You could probably think of a lot of things you could do with $1,280, but that doesn't mean the Walkcar wouldn't be able to find its own clientele. Riding on this thing would definitely make you stand out from the crowd of electric bicycle, skateboard, and scooter riders. Does that mean you've also made the better choice? Well, in a moment of complete honesty, only you could answer that. Deliveries are set to start in September next year, so you'll get plenty of time to mull over it.