What's less than half the price of the Segway, about half the weight and comes with its own smartphone app? That would be the Inmotion SCV (sensor controlled vehicle), easily the most fun gadget we test drove at CES 2014. Seriously, once we started tooling around on this $2,499 vehicle--available in the U.S. later this month--we didn't want to get off.
The yellow R1EX model of the SCV looks like a Segway that went on a diet. It weighs about 35 pounds and runs up to 9 miles per hour. An LED screen inside a removable remote shows you your speed as you drive. You'll also find front and tail lights.
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Operating the vehicle was a breeze once we took a minute or two to master the controls. You lean forward while pushing the ergonomic handlebars slightly to accelerate, and you turn with your body while turning the handles to go left or right.
Inmotion will also make an app available that lets you view vehicle stats. Plus, you can attach a phone or tablet to the R1EX SCV and use its camera to remotely steer the vehicle remotely from another mobile device. For now, the app is in Chinese only, but expect an English version soon.
The body will be available in white, yellow and red, but we're definitely partial to the yellow model. After all, if you're going to turn heads while driving down the street, you might as well go full throttle. At least until you run out of battery power, which should be about 9 miles.