I bought a weird motorized suitcase in China and rode it home. Here’s what happened
I was recently in China on yet another trip to tour the factories and showrooms of several leading micromobility companies, and I’ll have more to share with you on that trip soon. But first, while I was getting ready to fly out of the Shanghai airport, I stumbled upon the coolest little motorized carry-on suitcase that functions like a seated electric scooter. I ended up buying it on the spot.
Here’s what happened next when I tried to take it 8,000 km (5,000 miles) home.
This time it’s for real
This is the real deal – I actually bought and tested this thing, which I can prove with my hilarious testing video filmed in three different international airports. I highly recommend it, if you’ve got a couple minutes to burn.
So basically, you should know that this is not part of my long-running Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week series, where I (lovingly) poke fun at some of the odd and awesome EVs found on China’s largest shopping site from the safety on my computer screen. I did happen to feature a motorized suitcase in my last post in the Alibaba series, inspired by the fact that I knew I’d be sharing this review with you all soon. And finally, here we are!
I’ve seen these motorized suitcases floating around the interwebs for some time, but they’ve always been frustratingly expensive. For more than the price of a great e-bike, you can buy one of these motorized suitcase scooters. Since I wasn’t about to drop nearly $900 on a contraption like this, I figured I’d never have the pleasure of experiencing one.
That was until I walked past a shop selling them in the Shanghai airport. I was able to snag it for just 3,000 RMB, or the equivalent of around US $411. It’s still a dumb price, but it’s over half off the going rate in the west.
How does a motorized suitcase scooter work?
This thing is actually a decent rolling suitcase to begin with. It has 26L of storage, large rear rolling wheels, and a solid telescoping handle so you can roll it around like a normal trolley bag.
But when you push the expansion toggle switch the rear, the scooter’s frame extends out of the bottom and you can telescope up the handlebars to turn it into a functional scooter. A little pad tucked under the carry handle serves as a diminutive seat, and the right thumb lever on the handlebars is pressed to activate the electric motor in the single front wheel. The left thumb lever is the brake (just electric motor braking, no physical brakes), and you can engage reverse by holding both thumb levers simultaneously.
For something designed to do two things at once, which is normally a recipe for mediocrity at both, it actually surprised me in a good way. The suitcase works fine, even if you lose some of its interior storage that is taken up by the scooter’s frame. You also get the nice feature of the suitcase’s battery functioning like a USB power bank, so that’s another cool feature. And as a scooter, it’s decently comfortable, though a bit cramped.
I will say that the zipper on the bag feels a bit cheap and seems to me like it could be the first thing that will eventually break, rendering the bag useless for carrying anything, but until then it works pretty well at its job.
How good can a motorized suitcase scooter be?
This specific suitcase is the Airwheel SE3S, and the marketing says it can get up to 13 km/h (8 mph). My journey home from China started in Shanghai, where for the first couple kilometers of scooting, I didn’t realize I only had the suitcase in the middle power mode and not its highest setting.
I still had a lot of fun scooting around the airport and I was even going faster than folks walking on the moving walkways, so the middle gear was still plenty fast.
But after arriving at my connection in Abu Dhabi, I downloaded the smartphone app and discovered that I could fully unlock the speed. At that point, I was using every single one of those 300 watts available in the front motor to rocket me up to 13 km/h. In fact, I was going so fast that when I would hit the metal expansion joints in the airport floor, the little 92 Wh battery would bounce up off of its connector and I’d momentarily lose power. I could reach behind me and push the battery back down, then all was good again. And it really only happened in the highest power mode, which is when I’d hit any bumps with the most force.
But keep in mind that that if you hit any bumps at full speed, you might have to deal with momentary power interruptions. Not ideal, but still better than the trolley bag that I’d have to pull instead of this one pulling me!
To be frank, I’m actually amazed that the thing was pulling 300W through that little barrel connector (easier to see in the video).
But it never felt like anything was heating up too much, so I guess they have spec’d some sufficiently capable copper and enough heat dissipation on either side to make it work. Or it’s not really pulling 300W, which would make sense since how much power does one really need to go 13 km/h on a flat airport floor?
I also found other features that were available in the app, such as changing the color of the LED lighting in the scooter and controlling the suitcase remotely from my phone. The latter was pretty funny to test out – imagine pushing a button on your phone and watching your suitcase drive away.
Both seem like novelties, so I didn’t really mess with those features very much in practice.
I could see in the app that by this point I had scooted around 3 km (nearly 2 miles) in the Shanghai and Abu Dhabi airports, which was a weird statistic to have for a suitcase, but I was pretty proud of it.
Can you legally fly with an electric motorized suitcase?
I never once had an issue with the bag, though it did get pulled off to the side for additional screening in Abu Dhabi. The battery had already been removed, but it went it got pulled off into the lane of shame after the X-ray scan anyway.
That when a big UAE dude in military fatigues carried my scootcase over to the inspection counter, took one look at the computer screen with its scan on it, and told me it was good to go. No extra inspection. I popped the battery back in and rode away, as one does in these situations.
With a 92 Wh battery that neatly fits under the 100 Wh limit used by most airlines for lithium-ion batteries in carry-on bags, there’s really nothing else that would disqualify this as a legal carry-on bag in most cases. There are some airlines that have specifically banned hoverboards and other rideables, so you may want to double check, but I had no issue in three international airports.
But the journey wasn’t over yet
The final leg of my journey was a flight from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv, and the Airwheel suitcase performed admirably yet again. It fit just fine in the overhead storage compartment and was ready to rock n’ roll as soon as I was off the plane.
In fact, just because Ben Gurion Airport was my final stop, that didn’t mean I was done scooting. I took the train from the airport to a stop around 2 km (1.2 miles) from my apartment, then tried to ride my suitcase the rest of the way home. I probably could have made it since the battery is rated for around 8 km (5 mi) per charge, but it just felt pretty darn slow. So I put it on a Lime scooter and rode the pair of us most of the rest of the way at a much peppier 25 km/h (15 mph).
Close to home, I switched back to my suitcase so I could ride the last few hundred meters in style. And to finish strong, I was able to ride it right up the handicap accessible ramp into the lobby of my building, into the elevator, back out of the elevator (in reverse, mind you), and right up to my apartment door.
I had successfully ridden the suitcase from a Shanghai airport shop to my living room, albeit with a few planes, a train, and a Lime scooter in between.
What’s the verdict?
At just over US $400, I can barely justify this thing, at least for me. Yes, it actually worked great and was super fun, but I’m not exactly the target market.
For someone who has trouble walking long distances in an airport, this would definitely be a better way to get around.
But at the Amazon price of nearly US $900, it’s hard for me to call this a “buy”. Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast on it and don’t regret it, even if I’m probably going to try to sell it used for close to what I bought it for and recoup my investment in this article and video. But I’m not sure I can tell anyone it’s really worth the Amazon MSRP, for the same reason that I never considered buying one myself until I found it for under half-priced directly from its Chinese source. In fact, now I’m wondering what it would cost on the streets of China if I hadn’t paid the presumed airport markup.
I guess I’ll need to go back to China and find out…
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Tesla has quietly removed the Cybertruck’s range extender from the options in its online configurator.
Does Tesla still plan to bring the product to market?
When Tesla unveiled the production version of the Cybertruck in late 2023, there were two main disappointments: the price and the range.
The tri-motor version, which was the most popular in reservation tallies, was supposed to have over 500 miles of range and start at $70,000.
Tesla now sells the tri-motor Cybertruck for $100,000 and only has a range of 320 miles.
As for the dual-motor Cybertruck, it was supposed to cost $50,000 and have over 300 miles of range. The reality is that it starts at $80,000, and it has 325 miles of range.
However, Tesla had devised a solution to bring the range closer to what it originally announced: a separate battery pack that sits in the truck’s bed. Tesla called it a “range extender.” It costs $16,000 and takes up a third of the Cybertruck’s bed.
Even though the Cybertruck has been in production for a year and a half at this point, the range extender has yet to launch.
Initially, Tesla said that it would come “early 2025”, but we reported that it was pushed to “mid-2025” late last year.
At the time, Tesla also reduced the range that the removable battery pack adds to the Cybertruck to “445+ miles” rather than “470+ miles” for the dual motor – a ~25-mile reduction in range.
Now, Tesla has removed the option from its online Cybertruck configurator. It used to take reservations for the range extender with a “$2,000 non-refundable deposit”, as seen on the image above, but now it’s not in the configurator at all at the time of writing.
It’s unclear if Tesla is not planning to launch the product anymore or if it is just pausing reservations.
In its specs page, Tesla still lists the achievable range of both versions of the Cybertruck with and without the range extender battery:
Electrek’s Take
I’m curious. Is it dead, or does Tesla just want to stop taking reservations for it?
At first, I was curious about the product even though I didn’t think it would make up for Tesla’s significant miss on Cybertruck specs.
However, after it was confirmed that it takes up 30% of your bed and that it needs to be installed and removed by Tesla at a service center, I think it’s pretty much dead on arrival at $16,000.
It’s going to be a product limited to only a few people at best. And now that’s if it makes it to market.
With the option being removed from the configurator, there’s no production timeline available. Again, the last one was “mid-2025”, which is soon.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Environment
EcoFlow members can save up to 65% on power stations while supporting disaster relief during the 2025 Member’s Festival
Portable power station specialist EcoFlow is kicking off its third annual Member’s Festival this month and is offering a unique new rewards program to those who become EcoFlow members. The 2025 EcoFlow Member’s Festival will offer savings of up to 65% for its participating customers, and a portion of those funds will be allocated toward rescue power solutions for communities around the globe through the company’s “Power for All” fund.
EcoFlow remains one of the industry leaders in portable power solutions and continues to trek forward in its vision to power a new tech-driven, eco-conscious future. Per its website:
Our mission from day one is to provide smart and eco-friendly energy solutions for individuals, families, and society at large. We are, were, and will continue to be a reliable and trusted energy companion for users around the world.
To achieve such goals, EcoFlow has continued to expand its portfolio of sustainable energy solutions to its community members, including portable power stations, solar generators, and mountable solar panels. While EcoFlow is doing plenty to support its growing customer base, it has expanded its reach by giving back to disaster-affected communities by helping bolster global disaster response efforts the best way it knows how– with portable power solutions.
EcoFlow and its members look to provide “Power for All”
Since 2023, EcoFlow has collaborated with organizations worldwide as part of its “Power for All” mission. This initiative aims to ensure access to reliable and timely power to disaster-affected communities across the globe, including rescue agencies, affected hospitals, and shelters, to support rescue and recovery efforts.
This fund most recently provided aid for communities affected by the recent Los Angeles wildfires, assistance to the Special Forces Charitable Trust (SFCT) in North Carolina following severe hurricanes, and support for non-profits engaged in hurricane preparedness in Florida and the Gulf Coast. Per Jodi Burns, CEO of the Special Forces Charitable Trust:
In the wake of devastating storms in Western North Carolina, reliable power was a critical need for the families we serve. Thanks to EcoFlow’s generous donation of generators, we were able to provide immediate relief, ensuring these families and their communities had access to power when they needed it most. We are so impressed with EcoFlow’s commitment to disaster response through their ‘Power for All’ program. It has made a tangible impact, and we are deeply grateful for their support and partnership in helping these families recover and rebuild.
In 2024, the US experienced 27 weather and climate events, each causing losses exceeding $1 billion, marking the second-highest annual total on record, according to National Centers for Environmental Information. The increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters underscore the critical need for reliable and timely power solutions during emergencies, much like EcoFlow and its members are helping provide through the “Power For All” initiative.
To support new and existing EcoFlow members, the company is celebrating its third annual Member’s Festival throughout April to offer a do-not-miss discount on its products and donate a portion of all sales to the “Power for All” fund to provide rescue power to those in need in the future. Learn how it all works below.
Save big and give back during the 2025 Member’s Festival
As of April 1st, you can now sign up to become an EcoFlow member to participate in the company’s exclusive 2025 Member Festival.
As a member, you can earn “EcoFlow Power Points” by completing tasks like registration, referrals, and product purchases and tracking your individual efforts toward disaster preparedness and recovery.
Beginning April 4, EcoFlow members will also be able to take advantage of exclusive discounts of up to 65% off select portable power stations, including the DELTA Pro Ultra, DELTA Pro 3, DELTA 2 Max, DELTA 3 Plus, RIVER 3 Plus, and more. However, these sale prices only last through April 25, so you’ll want to move quickly!
Click here to learn more about EcoFlow’s “Power for All” campaign. To register for EcoFlow’s 2025 Member Festival in the US, visit the EcoFlow website. To register as a member in Canada, visit here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Tesla is losing another top talent: its long-time head of software, David Lau, has reportedly told co-workers that he is exiting the automaker.
Tesla changed how the entire auto industry looks at software.
Before Tesla, it was an afterthought; user interfaces were rudimentary, and you had to go to a dealership to get a software update on your systems.
When Tesla launched the Model S in 2012, it all changed. Your car would get better through software updates like your phone, the large center display was responsive with a UI that actually made sense and was closer to an iPad experience than a car.
Tesla also integrated its software into its retail experience, service, and manufacturing.
David Lau deserves a lot of the credit for that.
He joined Tesla in 2012 as a senior manager of firmware engineering and quickly rose through the ranks. By 2014, he was promoted to director of firmware engineering and system integration, and in 2017, he became Vice President of software.
Lau listed the responsibilities of his team on his LinkedIn:
- Vehicle Software:
- Firmware for the powertrain, traction/stability control, HV electronics, battery management, and body control systems
- UI software and underlying Embedded Linux platforms
- Navigation and routing
- iOS and Android Mobile apps
- Distributed Systems:
- Server-side software and infrastructure that provides telemetry, diagnostics, over-the-air updates, and configuration/lifecycle management
- Data engineering and analytics platforms that power technical and business insights for an increasingly diverse set of customers across the company
- Diagnostic tools and fleet management, Manufacturing and Automation:
- Automation controls (PLC, robot)
- Server-side manufacturing execution systems that power all of Tesla’s production operations
- Product Security and Red Team for software, services, and systems across Tesla
Bloomberg reported today that Lau told his team he is leaving Tesla. The report didn’t include reasons for his stepping down.
Electrek’s Take
Twelve years at any company is a great run. At Tesla, it’s heroic. Congrats, David, on a great run. You undoubtedly had a significant impact on Tesla and software advancements in the broader auto industry.
He is another significant loss for Tesla, which has been losing a lot of top talent following a big wave of layoffs around this time last year.
I wonder who will take over. Michael Rizkalla, senior director of software engineering and vehicle firmware, is one of the most senior software engineers after Lau. He has been at Tesla for 7 years, and Tesla likes to promote within rather than hire outsiders.
There are also a lot of senior software execs working on AI at Tesla. Musk has been favoring them lately and he could fold Lau’s responsibilities under them.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports12 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway