Toyota unveils three-wheeled escooter for walking areas — Segway style

As of October 1, the Japanese automaker has launched its  C⁺walk electric scooter, designed to help people in walking areas both indoors and outdoors.

It’s a standing-type model that slots into the C⁺walk walking-area mobility series, which will also include seated-type and wheelchair-linked-type vehicles.  

A removable lithium-ion battery allows the C⁺walk to travel about 14km on a single charge, and it needs some 2.5 hours to recharge from zero to full.

Users can set the scooter’s maximum traveling speed via a speed adjustment switch, and can choose between five different options, ranging from 2 to 6km/h, with an additional 10km/h setting for experienced users.

The vehicle takes up a similar amount of space as a single person, while it’s equipped with obstacle detection functions that help avoid collisions with obstacles or pedestrians ahead.

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Toyota has designed the C⁺walk for comfortable use in walking areas, side-by-side travel, and communication with fellow pedestrians. 

Initially, the automaker envisions the scooter helping elderly workers travel across large-scale facilities such as warehouses, factories, and airport terminals. It could also be used on activity tours taking place inside parks and other facilities.

In the future, the company hopes the Japanese government will certify the C⁺walk for use on public roads (under existing laws it’s not permitted on public streets or sidewalks), in which case it would support people who find it hard to walk long distances. 

Overall, it seems that Toyota is trying to pick up where Segway PT, the two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transporter, left off.

Although the vehicle never realized its creators’ world-changing ambitions and stopped being produced in 2020, it did leave a legacy behind it that now Toyota, among other companies, is eyeing. 

Regardless of what the future holds for the C⁺walk, it’s currently offered only in Japan starting at ¥341,000, or just under $3,100. 

Do EVs excite your electrons? Do ebikes get your wheels spinning? Do self-driving cars get you all charged up? 

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