Toyota is making big technological strides on its home turf, with its fleet of self-driving taxis getting ready to take to the streets of major Japanese cities. The car manufacturing giant, which is pushing for a smarter and greener future, has just announced its next big move in the world of personal transportation, and it's called the C+walk. The company describes it as a "new form of walking-area mobility."
What it is to the rest of us is a weird-looking three-wheeled scooter that wouldn't look out of place in a Will Smith starring sci-fi movie. These odd little scooters are going on sale at Toyota dealers this month, and we bet Japanese pedestrians are looking forward to contending with these things on the sidewalks of Tokyo.
The C+walk features a flat base that is nearly six inches off the ground, and according to Toyota, takes up the same space as a single person (you're going to be single for a while if you use one of these bad boys). The C+walk is equipped with obstacle detection to protect riders from crashing into ordinary people walking on the sidewalk. The C+walk starts making more sense when you place it in large-scale facilities such as Toyota's own assembly plants, or at airports, but Toyota will be pushing for these little creeps to be used on public roads in the near future. Toyota is currently working on a seated type wheelchair which makes a whole lot more sense.
This little scooter features accelerators on either side of the steering wheel, and the display shows battery level and speed and starts up by touching a special tag over a scanner. According to Toyota, the battery can be fully charged in 2.5 hours using the included AC 100 V charging device, which should give you a range of 14 kilometers and a top speed of 6.2 mph. For added mobility, it can turn on a 90-degree angle and features puncture-proof tires and a total curb weight of only 64 pounds. The scooter can carry a total weight of 220 pounds.
The C+walk will retail for around $3,070 and is only available in a two-tone black and grey body color. We'd rather buy a second-hand Toyota Prius, or one of BMW's cool-looking mini bikes.