Toyota Designed A Carry-On Suitcase You Can Ride Like A Scooter
The Honda Motocompacto looks like a suitcase that turns into a scooter, but all it can carry is a rider.
Now Toyota has designed a scooter that’s also carry-on luggage.
Or vice versa, depending on where you are in your journey.
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing, North America, has filed to patent a “wheeled luggage item with integrated personal mobility.”
The stated impetus for the device is to help people with physical issues and the elderly.
“It is well-known to incorporate wheels into suitcases and other luggage items to facilitate movement of the luggage by users. However, under certain travel conditions, and due to age, fatigue and/or other infirmities, it may prove difficult for a user to roll a luggage item over a required distance.”
The vehicle is designed to carry-on luggage specifications and includes wheels and handlebars that rotate into position and an in-wheel motor for the rear wheel to power it. It is also equipped with a kickstand and a seat, but can be operated without extending the seat, depending on the size of the rider.
The biggest difference between it and the Motocompacto is that it has a cavity that provides storage, although the patent sketches depict it as quite small relative to the overall size of the vehicle.
Toyota hasn’t announced any plans to put such a product into production, while the Motocompacto is currently on sale.
It has a range of approximately 12 miles per charge and is priced at $995. Honda, of course, was founded as a motorcycle maker and remains the world’s largest, while Toyota has always been focused on cars and commercial vehicles.
Toyota has unveiled a range of products in the personal mobility space in recent years, however, including a variety of standing and sitting scooters and small cargo transportation vehicles for use in urban settings.
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