Is it the second coming of the Segway? The American dual-wheeled transportation device hailed as a revolution ultimately wasn’t, but that hasn’t stopped China’s PowerUnionTech from creating the Windrunner, a “self-balancing electric vehicle” that looks a lot like the Segway and just yesterday netted a 12 million RMB ($1.96 million) investment, according to Chinese tech blog 36kr.
The Windrunner is, by all accounts, pretty much the same as the Segway both in terms of its external appearance and its internal tech. Like the Segway, it’s an electric short-range personal transporter that will take you between 20 and 40 km on a 2-4 hour charge cycle. And like the Segway, its biggest problem may be that riding one around looks and feels a little bit ridiculous. This is especially true in China, where the things are most closely associated with the police, as evidenced by one of the comments on 36kr:
Oh, this is a domestic product? The security guard at our place is already using one of these.
The Windrunner put to use in a variety of situations.
Could it catch on with a larger audience? The $2 million cash infusion — from an undisclosed investor — could help, but I think it’s going to take a lot more than $2 million to make this thing cool in China, and that’s not to mention the logistical problems it would need to overcome, like theft prevention and general safety on China’s clogged, dangerous, and polluted roads.
(via 36kr)
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