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| Sumi Wang and her father, Jianmin on the eFoldi. |
THIS week’s weirdest use of wheels goes to the
eFoldi, designed by an engineering dad-and-daughter team.
As it name implies, the eFoldi folds to transform into a low
wheelchair or a wheeled suitcase that fits into the overhead compartment.
A pledge of R14 341 will get you one eFoldi with battery and motor
a current Kickstarter special, although the makers, Sumi Wang and her father
Jianmin Wang, warn the first pledges will be used to set up the first production
run, with shipping scheduled for October.
Then the recommended retail price for the above offer will go up to
£1 599, or almost R32 800.
Sumi is the MD of SunTech UK, the company behind the eFoldi, and
said she worked as an engineer in China, Denmark and the UK for some 30
years.
“The folding genius comes from my father, Jianmin Wang, who has
been chief engineer for Chinese Acrobat Troupe for over 30 years and has
experience finding creative engineering and design solutions to all kinds of
problems,” she stated on Kickstarter.
“The eFoldi started like most good ideas — as a solution to a
problem: my dad broke his leg … He started sketching up eFoldi when lying in
hospital. As soon as he got home, he limped himself into the shed and there
cobbled together the first ever eFoldi ‘prototype’!”
The eFoldi has in the four years since won the prestigious “British
Invention Of The Year 2016” at The Gadget Show Live on March 31, 2016, as well
as the gold medal at the Invention Competition in Beijing, China in
2015.
She said the eFoldi is now “a must-have travel companion” for
sightseeing, shopping malls, queuing open air concerts and commuting.
The foling suitcase seat weighs 19kg and has a top speed of 20 km/h
for 22 km, while carrying up to 100 kg. It takes 4,5 hours to recharge the
“bigger” FarReach and only 1,5 hours for the airline-approved AirSafe battery.
The Wangs say on Kickstarter once the pledges stream in, a proper
production line will be set up in our Chinese partner’s existing car
manufacturing factory, including tooling, moulding, assembly and testing before
packaging.
eFoldi will be responsibly produced in our partnering factory in
China, which is an established supplier in the automobile industry. They have
been supplying components to GM, Daewoo, Sabaru and Chevrolet since 2008.
Shipping of eFoldi will be carried out by a fulfilment company,
which has depots in the US, the UK and China. Shipping cost varies depending on
countries and is starting from £59.
