Segway-Ninebot has just opened orders in North America for a new version of the company’s self-balancing electric scooter, the Ninebot S Max.

Unlike conventional electric scooters of the Bird and Lime variety, the Ninebot S Max uses the hoverboard-style parallel wheel design.

The previous version of the scooter offered by Ninebot included a center pillar that reached just short of the rider’s knees. Riders pressed against the pillar with their legs to control steering.

The new Ninebot S Max can be operated in this way, but it also includes an extendable pillar that sports a steering wheel. The steering wheel doesn’t actually turn, but appears to be leaned left and right like a control column or yoke…

But at the current sale price of $849, the new Ninebot S Max is considerably less expensive than the old-school $4,000+ Segway.
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