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 kilometers—or 31 to 37 miles—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.
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.