Dual-mode transport - the trend accelerates

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BMW's i8 Spyder with two matching BMW three-wheeled electric kick scooters in the rear

Honda's U3-X is seen as an ideal last-mile transportation device, small enough to reside inside a door

The Geely McCar 2 is the second "Magic Car" with a built-in secondary transportation device

General Motors' Flextreme Concept from 2007 carried two Segways in tunnels under the car

That's Gizmag's Editor-in-chief Noel McKeegan holding the Yikebike - the current benchmark for the smallest and lightest production mobility device. It's a carbon fiber, electric penny farthing that weighs just over 10 kg - it'll take you 10 km at 25 km/h. On the family tree of invention, it is far more closely related to your electric toothbrush than your car. The Yikebike is a stand-out in applying miniaturization to create new and more efficient transportation appliances, but there will be more.

The Geely McCar 2 is the second "Magic Car" with a built-in secondary transportation device

BMW's i8 Spyder with two matching BMW three-wheeled electric kick scooters in the rear

General Motors' Flextreme Concept from 2007 carried two Segways in tunnels under the car

At the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show Honda showed the Honda MotoCompo concept inside another Honda, the Micro Commuter Concept

From the 2011Tokyo Motor Show, the motocompo has a removable battery, smartphone docking station and folds down to a stow inside the door of the Micro Commuter Concept.

Honda's removable Motocompo battery fits its other EVs and a spare battery can be accomodated inside the other door in its own docking station

The Honda Motocompo concept

Honda has a lot of experience building mobility devices from the U3-X through walking assist devices through to its experimental robot ASIMO which contributes much understanding-

Honda is well placed to offer an array of intelligent mobility assist devices using its three decade development of ASIMO as a basis - that's ASIMO with the U3-X

Nissan's segway-style skis keep cropping up - they will certainly surface sooner or later

BMW's three-wheeled electric scooter

Honda's U3-X is intended to be a very personal device which will personalised in much the same way students make their laptop their own

Toyota's promotional staff took every opportunity to ride the Winglet and they were very good at it

Toyota's promotional push for the Winglet has already begun in Japan

Dual-mode transport - the trend accelerates

There are three versions available of the Toyota Winglet

General Motors' Flextreme Concept from 2007 carried two Segways in tunnels under the car

The Yikebike locked and loaded, wieghs in at just a tad over 10 kg

The 10 kg Yikebike locked and loaded, wieghs in at just a tad over 10 kg

Mike Hanlon tries the Yikebike for weight

Nissan's Segway skis

The BMW i8 Spyder

The BMW i8 Spyder from above shows the two three-wheeled kick scooters in their charging cradles

The BMW i8 Spyder

That's the Suzuki Pixy at left and the Suzuki SSC (which stands for Sea Bass Sharing Coach) at right.

The Suzuki Pixy was designed to fit inside other larger conveyances to facilitate travel across different distances

The Winglet could be ridden quicklly and gracefully

Toyota's Winglets

The General Motors Flextreme Concept contained a pair of Segways ingeniously located to optimize luggage space

The General Motors Flextreme Concept contained a pair of Segways

The Yikebike can be carried on public transport easily

The Yikebike can be carried through otherwise forbidden access areas quite easily

The Honda Motocompo is small enough to slip into the door trim of a car

The Honda Micro Commuter Concept shown at Tokyo Motor Show last December, contained a MotoComp as a second mode of transport

Suzuki's Pixy was designed to dock inside other vehicles.

Suzuki's Pixy was designed to dock inside other vehicles and offer personal transport when undocked

Suzuki's Pixy was designed to dock inside other vehicles.

The i8 certainly looks like a sports car of the future, but we suspect it will become one of the first production vehicles for the new brand from BMW.

The BMW i8 Spyder Concept

Volkswagen introduces the Bik.e, an electric bike that folds to the size of a spare tire.

VW's Bik.e, an electric bike that folds to the size of a spare tire.

The Geely McCar is actually related to the Volvo these days

The McCar from Geely.

Toyota's Winglet was ridden to great effect in Toyota's booth at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show

This chap was a Winglet master - he could do things on the Winglet which made me think of a much greater, sporting potential for the device.

First steps for Mike on the Winglet - "it is much more stable than it looks, and it's done with algorithms, not mass."

I had a close look at one of these machines and it had clearly seen a lot of use, indicating great durability.

Motorised personal transportation that you can carry in one hand, with superb handling

This gal walked on stage carrying the U3-X, clicked out the footrests and seat, and then performed the most fluid, floating, enchanting dance

The U3-X has a wheel which rotates in two planes - nothing quite like it exists - this guy performed some wonderful demonstrations of how easily the u3-X can be controlled

Honda's growing array of mobility aids

The Streetcarver - my right elbow remembers this beast not so fondly. It was a remarkable device but lacked brakes - with electric four-wheel-drive, this would be a weapon

Toyota has experimented with lots of Personal Mobility devices over the years

Toyota has experimented with lots of Personal Mobility devices over the years - this was a predecessor to the current iREAL

The author tries the Toyota iREAL

The Gocycle is an electric bike that folds into a briefcase - it's one of the cleanest and simplest ways to add a secondary mode of transport to your current vehicle

The Gocycle is an electric bike we've ridden quite a few miles on - it's quick, quiet, fuss-free

This is how it all began - the first personal transportation devices were called boneshakers for good reason

Personal transport prior to the bicycle chain

The Gocycle ready for a car trunk, or perhaps as secondary transport on a boat

The Gocycle ready for the suitcase

The Toyota iREAL is definitely the real deal

I cannot rate the Toyota iREAL too highly - it's a remarkable device that will seriously enhance the mobility of so many people

The Hands Free Transporter could negotiate a cocktail party with just weight transfer steering it, then accelerate to over 20 km/h in seconds.

The BMW Streetcarver

The Geely McCar and three wheeler

BMW's Streetcarver was very fast and turned very quickly - it took huge courage to ride it - tamed down and with regenerative brakes and electric power though, it would be very interesting

The BRP Embrio Concept - a gyroscopically balanced, one-wheeled recreational and commuting vehicle

Geely's McCar being released in Shanghai - that's the three-wheeler it contains

Geely's McCar being released in Shanghai

Honda's diminutive U3-X is unique in so many ways - I can't wait to see what the modders and robotics students do with the U3-X. As a base for robotic devices it could be equally unique.

United Nations figures suggest the Octogenarian age group will be large in number. If history repeats (it seldom doesn't), the newfound numbers will add voice to the group in demanding high calibre mobility assist devices

The Toyota iREAL is the real deal - part wheeled exoskeleton, part bionic wheelchair, part mini EV sportcar ... and it carves and adapts its wheelbase despending on what you're doing - an awesome machine

Ford's Flextreme Concept from 2007 had a pair of Segways cunningly secreted under the tailgate

The Honda Micro Commuter Concept also included a Motocompo as secondary transport

The Yikebike is the current state-of-the-art Transportation Appliance

One of Nissan's prototypes - they certainly look interesting

The Toyota Winglet is being proposed as a modern, more socially acceptable bicycle in space-challenged Japan

Toyota has an entire division creating rehabilitiation, mobility and partner robots. The chair at left is yet another of a vast array of mobility options at the disposal of the giant

Honda's U3-X is a remarkable device largely due to this wheel - a triumph of invention that we expect to see commercilised within the next few years

Another contender as a transportation appliance was the now discontinued Zap Powerski. It was light and fast and you also needed a set of in-line skates or a skateboard - probably not suitable for everyone

The Gocycle is the lightest folding EV we have ridden. It might be traditional in the sense of being a bicycle, but there's not much else about it that's traditional

As car ownership grows, congestion grows and parking in city centers becomes more expensive, and a car will increasingly only get you part of the way to your destination in most countries in the world.

The Brompton demonstrates how it folds

The world of personal transport is changing rapidly and an automotive company offering two desirable forms of transport in one package will have a distinct advantage in the marketplace

The Pon-e Trikke folds up to a manageable, if not quite small package and has a thriving boat marketplace as land transport

The Pon-e Trikke folds up to a manageable, if not quite small package that has wheels

As with traditional bicycle - the Pon-e is somehow familiar from the moment you step aboard - it's intuitive to use

The Trikke Pon-e in full flight - one thing to note here is the precision offered by the steering

The Trikke Pon-e in full flight - three shots and the rider is able to put the Pon-e on exactly the same spot each time

The Trikke Pon-e in full flight is both spectacular and very fast through the turns

Noel McKeegan chats with Trikke about the design of the Pon-e

The Batribike Lite is now discontinued

The Carnielli Bigfish folds to just 101 x 65 x 30 cm , designed and developed in Slovenia and built by Carnielli in Italy. are many remarkable folding bikes

The Pon-e is definitely the most fun of all the transportation options through the turns

We watched at the London Bicycle Show and those who tried the Pon-e all loved it

The Trikke Pon-e is light and robust and folds into a long and narrow unit for transport - it's biggest advantage here, is that the carry bag has wheels, so it's easy and convenient to roll the device.

The specs of the three available Trikke Pon-e models

The Birdy fold-up is another favourite for last mile transport. Parent company rad-innovations.com offers a range of ingenious machinery focussed on mobility. The Birdy weighs 10.8 kg and has suspension at both ends.

Noel McKeegan on the Trikke Pon-e

Gizmag's Noel McKeegan on the Trikke Pon-e

Gizmag's Noel McKeegan on the Trikke Pon-e - the combination of carving into a turn and the natural riding stance is compelling

Gizmag's Noel McKeegan on the Trikke Pon-e

The Ekso Exoskeleton is the first of many - exoskeletons will help people walk who currently cannot

exoskeletons will also help healthy people run faster, for longer, with a heavy pack - Ekso is part of the team working on the HULC development prototype with a view to enhancing the capabilities of the American soldier

The man-most-likely in the exoskeleton industry is Professor Sankai, founder of Cyberdyne and creator of HAL - in this case, HAL stands for Hybrid Assistive Limb. The coincidence with the names from "Kubrick/Clarke's 2001 Space Oddyssey" is Sankai's quirky humour. He has vowed his world-leading exoskeletons will never be used to harm other humans (i.e. on the battlefield).

The Ekso skeleton - not quite yet a mobility aid for everyone, but there will be more models, and perfeomance-enhancing exoskeletons are definitely on the agenda

The EC-Miu three-wheeler (shown above) and PAS-WITH e-bike will appear at the Tokyo Motor Show when it opens tomorrow. The two concepts were designed to highlight the companies’ joint vehicle communications infrastructure, which they say will advance vehicle-to-vehicle telematics, encourage vehicle sharing and bridge the gap between cars and bikes.

Yamaha's EC-Miu three-wheeler was shown at the Tokyo Motor Show in December 2011 and also served as part of a Toyota exhibit

Yamaha's ECPAS-WITH e-bike was shown at the Tokyo Motor Show in December 2011 and also served as part of a Toyota exhibit

Yamaha's ECPAS-WITH e-bike

Yamaha's EC-Miu three-wheeler

Yamaha's Deinonychus prototype of 2005 took full advantage of the greater chassis design freedom afforded by in-wheel motors, with 2WD and inbuilt "Stretch & Shrink" functions in the vertical and horizontal directions

Yamaha's Divide was a folding EV it showed five years ago as a concept - it become a far more important vehicle under the current trend

Segway's Centaur Concept could easily be adaptable as a second-mode of transport

Segway's Centaur Concept

Th A-bike - the smallest and lightest fold-up bicycle yet produced

Zap's Powerski was an electric platform designed for pulling you along - it is now discontinued, but there will be other inventions in this vein

Honda's Walk assist

Honda's worker assist

An exoskeleton promises both additional strength and unlimited endurance - tethered models such as this one from Japan's Koba Labs, astonished me with how easily such suits can make easy work of tasks that are beyond my normal physical lmitations

Most fold-ups to this point have been pedelecs, but in the quest for a smaller and lighter information appliance, pedals are certain to be left out of some viable designs. In this instance above, the folding electric bike uses both, very cleverly.

Former F1 designer and the father of the Gocycle, Richard Thorpe. Watch this space for more innovation in the mobility area

The Velo Mini

We're also expecting weight and performance perhaps even approaching that of the Gocycle from Taiwanese Company DK City which showed this (above) Robrady-designed machine recently.

The Airnimal bike trailer is ingenious.

Gizmag's Noel McKeegan on the Gocycle in London

Article Summary

Auto China is probably the most influential automobile show in the world at present. China now produces and consumes more cars than any other nation, so its needs will heavily influence personal transport globally in coming decades. Some early trends are emerging as to what we'll see, and as congestion in China increases and parking centrally becomes prohibitively expensive, a car will increasingly only get you part of the way to your destination. Geely and BMW both showed cars with inclusive last-mile transport at Auto China, but the number of last mile Transportation Appliance options under development by auto manufacturers is growing rapidly.

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