Portable Personal Vehicles of the Future?

 

If personal automobiles are no longer necessary or interesting to young adults, could there instead be some interest in portable personal vehicles in the future? By portable personal vehicles, I mean not a folding bicycle but something truly portable that would fit in a carry bag -- something like a wheeled version of the hovering, skateboard-like item from Back to the Future, a Segway without the handlebars, a self-balancing scooter or hoverboard.

Portable Personal Vehicles

Could we be seeing the end of car culture in America? We may already be seeing some signs of that. Young adults and teens are less interested in getting drivers licenses. Car buying has also shifted away from the 35-44 age crowd to the 55-64 ages, although this doesn't take into account what will happen when Millennials have kids that need rides to soccer practice or school plays.

Lexus Slide Hooverboard

Carmaker Lexus has actually built a levitating Slide Hoverboard that works over ground and water as well. The device was conceived as a marketing stunt for new Lexus cars, to "make the impossible possible" and it requires special magnetic technology embedded in the ground to make it hover. Unfortunately, it's doubtful that there will be any commercial versions available for sale in the near future.

Self-balancing Scooters

On the other hand, you may have already seen the scooters or hoverboards that are all the rage among celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Kendall Jenner, Nicki Minaj, Soulja Boy, Zedd, Nina Agdal. The scooters look like lightweight Segway platforms stripped down to the essential wheels and foot platform. They go when you stand on them and stop when you get off. They're viral on the Internet and cost anywhere from $300 to $1800 on Amazon in a dozen or so brand names. They can go up to twelve miles on a single charge, go up to 10 mph, carry a maximum weight of 260 lbs, and weigh about 25 lbs. The chief appeal of these scooters is the fun factor! Imagine mingling with a crowd of other walkers while you progress upright in an effortless glide. But novelty aside, could similar devices serve a more practical function in our lives?

Using a Personal Portable Vehicles

Take the example of commuters that would typically take mass transit to get to their jobs in the city but need to drive to a few miles to a park-and-drive location to catch the transit line. If they had a portable personal vehicle (PPV), they could ride it to the transit station, then tuck the PPV into a carry bag and board their train or subway. They could recharge the device during the workday, and then it would be ready to go with them to any after work activity like happy hour, gym, yoga class or whatever. It's obvious that a fold-up bicycle, or electric bicycle or Segway wouldn't fit conveniently fit into that kind of scenario.

Car in a Bag

A Japanese startup named Cocoa Motors has a solution that will be offered next year. Their "car in a bag" is a four-wheeled laptop-sized device weighing about 5 lbs that has a top speed of 6.2 mph, that can be carried around with you all day. Like the self-balancing scooter, its natural movement pattern is based on movements of a skateboard. Some safety issues still need to be worked out so that you don't get hurt in a crash at 6.2 mph -- perhaps one should also think about a helmet, knee and elbow pads. The other unspoken caveat is that they won't be good for use in inclement weather.

Perhaps the viral popularity of the self-balancing scooter also points to a need for a device that bridges the activities of walking and riding a bicycle. Perhaps this fad will mature into a trend that will truly fit into a future post-car culture American life.

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This guest post contribution is from MightySkins, providing quality custom skins for a variety of devices, including self balancing scooter skins, cell phone, tablet and laptop skins.