To move your persona in fashionable, high-speed vehicles with luxury finish and decoration you have to pay lots of money and owning a supercar, friendly to the environments with reduced air pollution is quite expensive too.
What about those who don’t have lot of money but want to contribute into sustainability to «give children the Globe» in the environmental safety?
Looks like a solution is found. And it came from China. One Chinese farmer He Liangcai from the Huan province came up with a brilliant idea to equip your luggage with motor on the very day when he forgot it at home, heading to New York. He was heading to get the prize for the invention of the car security system in 1999, but he missed the plane, because he urgently needed to go back for a suitcase and a trip to the U.S. had to be postponed.
Here is the most brilliant idea: once a suitcase has wheels, so maybe let them roll and carry the luggage and its owner? He immediately decided to implement his know-how, to prevent overcoming from other enthusiasts. However, since then He spent about 10 years to develop the eco-friendly scooter-suitcase, before introducing it to the public. New vehicle coming from China was named City Cab.
By the way:
The idea of self-moving suitcase is not new. Two years ago, Micro Luggage Scooter was launched for people who travel a lot. This Samsonite bag can be converted into a scooter for easy, fast and funny navigation through airports and train stations. The cost of this product is not very high — about 14 thousand rubles.
City Cab is equipped with electric motor. Ten years were spent by the inventor to create such a compact electric motor to put it into a bag and to leave a place for the luggage itself.
In the result: it is a convenient case with an electric motor and wheels and it is lighter than a bicycle — only 7 kg of weight! City Cab has a range up to 60 kilometers without stopping with maximum speed around 20 kmh
Ridiculous? No way!:
Overcrowding and air pollution make such inventions very useful and they don’t look as crazy as they could be. For more serious purposes there is an advanced and more expensive version of the scooter. Boxx Electric Bike can reach the speed up to 50 kmh, the range is around 100–120 km and it can carry up to 130 kg of luggage. And its price is around 4000 dollars.
What does City Cab consist of? Take the bag (it can be second hand one) attach to it three wheels: one large — to the front, two smaller ones — to the rear. Inside the bag there is a very compact motor and lithium-ion battery, so there is enough space left for the luggage. The battery can be recharged from the mains. City Cab has additional options that are useful for any vehicle: the kit includes a GPS-navigation and security alarm. Also there are turn signals, battery indicator and horn button.
The scooter is designed for two people: for example, it can carry a couple from the airport / train station to the hotel (or, conversely, from the hotel).
Nearest competitor:
In Hungary, an Antro Group nonprofit organization, specializing in the development of environmentally friendly transport, invented the scooter-suitcase named Moveo. However, there is only similarity with the suitcase — it can be folded and carried using built-in handle. Then it can be brought into the room, and it looks as a suitcase. However, this is a topic for another review.
The scooter has a weight of 25 kg and its body is made of carbon fiber and it has electric motors in each wheel. Moveo charges from mains in an 1 hour. Fully charged battery allows to pass about 35 kilometers with a maximum speed of 45 kmh. Folding it fully takes approximately two minutes. This is a running prototype ready for serial production, and there is an opportunity to produce 4 thousand units per year. And in case of high interest MOVEO will produce up to 15,000 units annually. Estimated price is 4600 euros, which will fall to 3,100 euros in case of mass production. Point of sales will be the Internet.
May 28, 2014 the original vehicle was introduced to the public at the railway station in Changsha City. The farmer-inventor has received a patent for this hybrid — scooter-suitcase now is a legal vehicle. He Liangcai is sure that soon City Cab will be used everywhere in China and around the world.
Of course, this scooter will not make your friends envious. But it is very original, ecological and cheap vehicle, very similar to the scooter by its technical specifications.
Unfortunately there is no information about City Cab mass production and how much it will cost.
