By Staff Writer (media@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Aug 09, 2015 06:00 AM EDT

A Japanese engineer alleged that he created the world’s first “car in a bag”. He developed a small portable vehicle that can be carried inside a backpack.

Tribune reported that Kuniako Saito, 26, and his team at Cocoa Motors recently introduced the “WalkCar,” a lithium battery-powered transporter, which is only as big as a laptop and appears like a skateboard. The WalkCar is made of aluminum and weighs only between two to three kilograms, depending on the version. There is a model for indoor or outdoor use. The lightweight aluminum board is quite strong and can carry loads of up to 120 kilograms. The transporter can reach a top speed of 10 kilometers per hour for up to a distance of 12 kilometers, after being charged for three hours.

According to Saito, there are several other functions for the WalkCar, such as pushing wheelchairs easily. The product is actually very simple to use. The WalkCar will automatically start as soon as a person stands on it. Stepping off will immediately stop the transporter. Users can change direction by merely shifting their weight. The “car in a bag” feature is one of its key strengths, since users can easily fit the vehicle in a small bag. There is no need for any parking space.

Saito said that the idea to create a unique new ride was inspired by his studies in electric car motor control systems.

“I thought, “what if we could just carry our transportation in our bags, wouldn’t that mean we’d always have our transportation with us to ride on?” and my friend asked me to make one, since I was doing my masters in engineering specifically on electric car motor control systems,” Saito told Reuters.

“Maybe I just see it that way, but it seems to me that the U.S. is always the one which invents new products and Japan is the one which takes those products and improves on them to make a better version of it. But here in this case, the WalkCar is a totally new product I have started from scratch. So I also I want to show the world that Japan can also be innovative,” Saito said.

Cocoa Motors is reportedly planning to begin taking pre-orders in Oct. 2015 through a Kickstarter campaign. Saito said that he is confident that his invention will be more successful than bigger devices such as the Toyota Winglet or Segway. The modern vehicle is expected to cost around $800 and will most likely become available in the spring of 2016.

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