The idea of personal electric transportation has really taken hold of the imagination judging by the number of Segway like products flooding the market in China and the Far East. We’re not told exactly what the sales figures are, and certainly there are no photos of hundreds of ex-pedestrians poodling around Beijing on their new toys, but it definitely seems to be gaining in interest. Now there’s a new arrival which looks like it could actually convince people to give it a go.
The Chic-Robot Smart S1 is a very dinky little electric scooter device which is gyroscopically controlled (aren’t they all?) and runs at a maximum speed of 6 mph for a range of around 12 miles. Which is not too shabby when you think that the thing weighs just 10 kg.
The company which makes them, Chic-Robot, has been producing Segway clones for a while, so they’ve clearly just worked on reducing the footprint and upgrading the software so it can be controlled without having a stick to hold, and from the look of the very slick marketing video they seem to have a product which is pretty easy to use. As with all these things, the proof is actually in the riding, and we’ll hold our tongue until the videos emerge of people tripping over on uneven sidewalks and such.
But for now, we’ve got to say this is probably one of the coolest of its’ type we’ve seen, and it will be really interesting to see if the price is low enough to encourage more wide scale adoption. We’re guessing it’s going to be around $900 retail or less. Watch out for them in your nearest PT dealer soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHS8GMx04jo
Seems good, but what makes it better than (or different from) the Osdrich i-Shine HOVERTRAX, which is available now?
http://www.osdrich.com/en/index.php/products/info/13/5
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/two-wheels-Electric-Bicycle-Electrombile-electric-two-wheel-scooter/2043500573.html
Well the one thing that’s rather strange is the Kickstarter units aren’t yet shipping, and yet there appear to be units on sale on Skymall and in China. The crowdfunders are naturally getting a bit agitated. We’ll see. Apparently they’re having problems with glitches in the software.
According to the Kickstarter updates, Skymall and China are just taking preorders. No one is actually shipping, yet.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/687658339/hovertrax/posts/966924
The two products seem so similar, I have to wonder if one is a knock off of the other, and which is better.
Well that’s the interesting thing. When you look at it, it’s not much more than a Segway scooter without the handle and a bit of steering tech added, so it could be a ‘derivative’ rather than a straight knock off, since the Chic company have been making Segway type products for a while it seems. Interesting one to watch.
Well, actually the original version is called HoverTrax which is not out yet.
According to the Hovertrax website (Inventist), they have not launch the product until year end for whatever the reason.
But I have seen many websites are selling it for about USD1000 plus.
And I am not sure how can that be, since the company is not launching it yet.
Anyway I have already bought this Chic Smart 2 wheel & it is being ship to me and should arrive sometimes next wheel.
The differences are in the weight & range & price.
Hovertrax = 5 kgs > 4 miles
Smart 2 wheel = 10 kgs > 10 miles
Have a nice day
Because walking is just so difficult and annoying for normal healthy people? Now stupid people can really slam into you when they are on their cellphone and riding on this thing at the same time. $900? Forget it.
Just snagged on from China. Very heavy, quite large and seemingly quite robust. It’s a cool device, for use on smooth flat surface like carpet or a mall surface. I think in a few years, with some modifications like pneumatic tires, intelligent surface analysis, stability when getting on and off the device, and vertical suspension, it will be something approaching a hoverboard-like experience. But it’s not there yet. Can now buy these on Amazon.
Just snagged on from China. Very heavy, quite large and seemingly quite robust. It’s a cool device, for use on smooth flat surface like carpet or a mall surface. I think in a few years, with some modifications like pneumatic tires, intelligent surface analysis, stability when getting on and off the device, and vertical suspension, it will be something approaching a hoverboard-like experience. But it’s not there yet. Can now buy these on Amazon.
Just snagged on from China. Very heavy, quite large and seemingly quite robust. It’s a cool device, for use on smooth flat surface like carpet or a mall surface. I think in a few years, with some modifications like pneumatic tires, intelligent surface analysis, stability when getting on and off the device, and vertical suspension, it will be something approaching a hoverboard-like experience. But it’s not there yet. Can now buy these on Amazon.