Toyota reinvents the Segway: Meet the Winglet

Admittedly, the world is crying out for alternative forms of transport, but the Segway’s electric bandwagon seems like a strange thing to jump on. Nevertheless, Toyota’s ‘Winglet,’ described by the company as a ‘personal transport assistance robot,’ looks awfully familiar.

Although still under development, the Winglet comes in three forms: small, medium and large, so users can choose an appropriate version ranging from ‘practical’ (this is Toyota’s wording, remember) to ‘hands-free sporty.’ Each model has two wheels and an electric motor. The base covers roughly the area of a piece of A3 paper. Also in there somewhere are a bunch of sensors, allowing the user to move and steer by shifting his or her body weight. This is all in the name of ‘contributing to the health and comfort of future society.’

The heaviest and fastest Winglet weighs around 27 pounds, has a top speed of 3.7 mph, a range of 6.2 miles and takes an hour to recharge completely. Considering a Segway (despite weighing over 100 pounds) has a range of up to 25 miles and a top speed of 12.5 mph, it’s unlikely it’ll need retrofitting with rear-view mirrors any time soon. Then again, it does need something like 10 hours for a full recharge. Perhaps Toyota should change the name to ‘Aesop.’

-- Colin Ryan

Photos: Toyota

Comments

[ken]

they were shown on a flat surface.

[AB]

Much better design for the simple fact you're riding around on something not much higher than your shoes, rather than Segway's earth moving truck wheels.

[Mike Barker]

Toyota usually gets it right so maybe they are on to something we should all pay attention to.

[Lock]

The design is very practical especially for commuters in Tokyo. It is light so we can carry it on the train, it recharges quicky and the speed is just right for navigating Tokyo sidewalks. I am not sure if we can use this on the streets yet, since bicyclists still use the sidewalks here! This makes the Segway look like a Hummer!

[Lock]

The design is very practical especially for commuters in Tokyo. It is light so we can carry it on the train, it recharges quicky and the speed is just right for navigating Tokyo sidewalks. I am not sure if we can use this on the streets yet, since bicyclists still use the sidewalks here! This makes the Segway look like a Hummer!

[ecksman]

since bush has been in office we have lagged japan in innovation ... i sure hope that changes in the next 8 years

[JHaskins]

Contributing to the health and comfort of future society? How? I have a better solution; get off and walk.

[Tommy J]

3.7 miles per hr. Wow thats not faster than walking. Who will ever use that. Whats the advantage? less exercise more lazziness?

[Cindy]

Can't see the advantage over just walking or roller skating (or riding a bike), none of which needs a battery recharged, can you?

[Mark Kalan]

you're a fool to ride this without a helmet! A friend of mine took a tumble on her razor scooter and hit her head on a rock. No more scuba, bicycle or driving for her and she falls asleep in the middle of a sentence!

[vitto]

Great design, let's wait for the final product probably they will improve range, 6.2 miles seems ok to me since it's a personal transport assistant not a commuter.

[julie]

This seems like a natural move towards a major improvement of the wheelchair. Now, that would be great news. It would certainly benefit people who are legitimately mobility-challenged, no? For the rest of us who don't have mobility issues, though, do we really need a replacement for our legs??? There are tons of great bicycles out there in the marketplace. Maybe Toyota should try a new, even more efficient bicycle design that gets the legs moving...

[michael]

A top speed of 3.7 mph? So a brisk walk is out while the winglet takes over. I don't hate technology, but I couldn't help but get a brief glimpse of the movie WALL-E when I read this.

[Brooke]

LOL! I don't understand why people don't just walk. You can see the guy walking next to the guy on the winglet -- what's wrong with using the legs to move you around?

[TonyinMendo]

Impractical toy for kids to spend money on and older folks to break something expensive with.

[TonyinMendo]

Impractical toy for kids to waste money on and older folks to break expensive things with. Does it help? Who? The athleticaly lazy?

[Jeremy]

This is nice! Pretty soon we'll be able to start binding our children's feet because they won't need them for walking..

[technicle]

Since the Segway is illegal in Japan, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Make both the Winglet and the Segway legal (and know that the domestic version will win out), or treat this as a Japanese-snow-is-different issue and keep the Segway under lock and key, but allow the Winglet to fly?

[George]

ecksman,

Gosh, that's a real intelligent comment. If your idea of innovation is for Toyota to copy the Segway it's going to be a dire four years with the Democrats in charge. Oh yeah, they have control of Congress now and what innovation have they done... wait for it... I can hear a pin drop.

[Ryan]

the people at Toyota must be tremendously lacking good for sight. The Winglet has a very poor range, and a rather pathetically slow top speed. I don't see how anyone could use this to get around. It's just easier to walk. The segway is much superior in my opinion. It's a modest 85 pounds, easy enough to get onto a train or in the trunk of your S.U.V.

It's also very intuitive, fun to ride, safe, dependable, and costs almost nothing to maintain other than whatever you shell out for tires or batteries once every three years. The Segway's top speed is 12.5 mph, but can stop on the dime, and ride well in the midst of crowds. The segway also has a govenor that will electronically limit the speed to 4 mph of which can be activated via bluetooth wireless remote key. The segway get's about 24 miles to a single charge, and costs about only a dime's worth of electricity. Pretty good, you must admit. Segway for Life!!!