TOKYO, April 6 — A Japanese startup will introduce an all-terrain electric wheelchair in 2026 that allows users to climb and descend stairs, and board trains and buses without assistance, with plans to develop a model that can navigate escalators.
The wheelchair, developed by Lifehub Inc., normally drives on four wheels on flat surfaces and is equipped with caterpillar tracks to negotiate stairs, slopes, and uneven ground, Kyodo News Agency reported.
The company’s Avest wheelchair adjusts its seat angle while ascending and descending stairs on inclines of up to 40 degrees, Lifehub said. It can travel up to 40 kilometres on a single charge.
While similar stair-climbing wheelchairs are already available, many of them ascend with their occupants facing backwards, according to the company.
Lifehub will offer 50 units of the launch edition, priced at 1.5 million yen (RM44,370).
In Japan, electric wheelchairs are exempt from sales tax.
The Tokyo-based company is developing a new version to allow users to ride escalators without assistance, which would be the first wheelchair in the world with such a capability, Lifehub said.
Lifehub CEO Hiroshi Nakano said at a press event that he wants to “solve the challenges faced by wheelchair users with our technologies.”
While Lifehub will initially focus on offering the Avest wheelchairs to disabled people, the elderly, and those with injuries, it plans to market them as personal vehicles for moving around places such as shopping centres and large stores, Nakano said. — Bernama-Kyodo
