Japanese Startup Introduces Electric Wheelchair Capable Of Upgrading Stairs

JAKARTA - A Japanese startup company will introduce electric wheelchairs of all terrain by 2026 allowing users to climb and down stairs, to board trains and buses without help, with plans to develop a model that could navigate escalators.

The wheelchair developed by Lifehub Inc., which usually uses four wheels on a flat surface, has a caterpillar path to pass through uneven stairs, slopes and soil, quoted from Kyodo News April 10.

The company's Avest wheelchair can adjust its seating angle as it climbs and descends at a slope of up to 40 degrees, Lifehub said.

The wheelchair can cover a distance of up to 40 kilometers with a single charge.

Lifehub CEO Hiroshi Nakano said at a press event he wanted to "break the challenges wheelchair users face with our technology."

Although Lifehub will initially focus on offering Avest wheelchairs to disabled people, the elderly and injured. The company plans to market it as a private vehicle to tour places like shopping centers and large shops, Nakano said.

Although wheelchairs for climbing similar stairs are already available, many of them ride with passengers facing back, according to the company.

Lifehub will offer 50 launch edition units, at a price of 1.5 million yen. In Japan, electric wheelchairs are exempt from sales tax.

The Tokyo-centric company is developing a new version that will allow users to ride the escalator without help, which will be the world's first wheelchair with such capabilities, Lifehub said.