Chinese farmer turns suitcases into ingenious electric scooter

[hubag bohol]

By Steve Siler | Motoramic â€" 14 hours ago

[hubag bohol]

[hubag bohol]

From the “This is a real thing, we think” file comes the curious case of the Chinese farmer turned inventor of motorized suitcases.

He Liang, a farmer from China’s Hunan region, has invented and patented the ultimate rollaboard, or what he apparently calls the “multi-functional suitcase.” Photographed this week in Changsha, the motorized suitcase is said to weigh about 15-16 lbs. and is able to carry two people (or one well-fed American, maybe). With the help of a wheel hub electric motor in the single front wheel, the little three-wheeler can travel 50 to 60 kilometersâ€"or 31 to 37 milesâ€"on a full charge.

Maximum speed is 20 km per hour, which is somewhat faster than we would ever feel comfortable traveling on a three-wheeled box, and about as fast as a fleet-footed TSA agent could give chase in an airport concourse until he runs out of breath, or the rider runs into a stunned tourist who swears he just saw some loser coming toward him riding a suitcase.

[hubag bohol]

[hubag bohol]

The starter is a rotary switch on the tiny handlebar, and there appears to be a brake handle as well, and the three wheels are fixed in place. The farmer, according to local Chinese media, never finished primary school but spent 10 years building his self-propelled carry-on, which supposedly also sports some undetermined amount of cargo space and a nav system.

There are myriad reasons that riding a motorized suitcase is a terrible idea, beyond the sheer humiliation factor of riding a freakin’ motorized suitcase in public. For one thing, with no suspension and a rather ergonomically, um, flat seating situation, the motorized suitcase doesn’t look too comfortable, especially from what we remember about the quality of Chinese roads. Next, China’s chaotic roadways and sidewalksâ€"sometimes one and the sameâ€"are treacherous enough in an armored military transport, let alone a rolling suitcase. And safety is, well, not.

If this idea takes off â€" and apparently He Liang has patented the idea, just in case â€" look for this “world’s lightest car” to make him a rich man. Suitcase racing series? Open a string of drive-through suitcase washes? Other variants like motorized guitar cases? If it can happen anywhere, it can happen there.