Honda's Easy Rider

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Need an excuse for getting fat for lack of exercise? Buy Honda’s latest invention, and you won’t even have to walk to the bathroom anymore, assuming a barrier-free environment. Honda presents the UNI-CUB, the first vehicle you steer with your ass.

The UNI-CUB is the next generation of the U3-X personal mobility device that Honda announced in 2009. The UNI-CUB does away with joy sticks and pedals. It combines balance control technology (it goes where you lean) with the world’s first omni-directional driving wheel system. Your range anxiety it will heal not. It has a range of 3.7 miles, and a max speed of 3.7 mph.

Next month, Honda will field test the UNI-CUB at Japan’s National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo. Later on, “practical applications of the device in a wide range of environments in Japan and other countries” shall be explored.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Grinchsmate Grinchsmate on May 16, 2012

    Am I the only one who found the video hilarious? I lost it when the woman opened the lift and there was another scooter. It is a great looking package though. I wish Honda made home appliances. Also imagine a s2000 washing machine, 9000rpm spin dry.

  • CRConrad CRConrad on May 16, 2012

    "...the first vehicle you steer with your ass." Sorry, Bertel, I think that's factually wrong: Whenever you ride your bicycle without holding on to the handle bars, you're actually steering it mit dem Arsch. Also, of course, that's how you steer the ordinary non-motorized unicycle all the time.

  • Master Baiter "That said, the Inflation Reduction Act apparently does run afoul of WTO rules..."Pfft. The Biden administration doesn't care about rules. The Supreme Court said they couldn't forgive student load debt; they did it anyway. Decorum and tradition says you don't prosecute former presidents; they are doing it anyway. They made the CDC suspend evictions though they had no constitutional authority to do so.
  • 1995 SC Good. To misquote Sheryl Crow "If it makes them unhappy, it can't be that bad"
  • 1995 SC The letters on the hatch aren't big enough. hard pass
  • Ajla Those letters look like they are from AutoZone.
  • Analoggrotto Kia EV9 was voted the best vehicle in the world and this is the best TOYOTA can do? Nice try, next.
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