BRUSSELS, BELGIUM — Recently, Airwheel’s SE3SX Smart Rideable Cabin Suitcase has been recognized in the 2026 European Product Design Awards (EPDA), highlighting the company’s approach to integrating electric mobility, intelligent control, and luggage design into a single travel-oriented product. Listed in the Personal / Luggage: Carryon Suitcase category, the SE3SX reflects a design strategy that moves beyond conventional suitcase architecture to explore how luggage can become an active part of the travel experience.
The official EPDA project description highlights the SE3SX’s integrated construction, which combines power, control, and storage systems within an aerospace-grade aluminum-magnesium alloy structure. The design also incorporates a low center of gravity, app-based remote control, and intuitive rotatable handles, connecting structural design with short-distance mobility. This recognition adds to Airwheel’s international design profile and its continued development of intelligent mobility products.
Rather than treating a suitcase as a passive container, Airwheel approaches smart luggage as a combination of transportation interface, compact storage system, and connected consumer technology. The SE3SX represents this approach through a compact rideable platform designed for movement across airports, railway stations, exhibition venues, and other travel environments.
From Conventional Luggage to Intelligent Mobility
Traditional suitcases are designed primarily to store and transport belongings. Airwheel’s smart rideable suitcase concept extends that function by incorporating an electric drive system, rider controls, and an intelligent handle into the luggage platform.
The underlying design challenge is not simply to add a motor to a suitcase. It is to coordinate propulsion, balance, structural layout, user controls, and everyday luggage functionality within a compact product. For travelers, the result is intended to offer an additional mobility option during short-distance movement, particularly when navigating large terminals, connecting between transport facilities, or crossing expansive indoor and outdoor spaces.
The SE3SX was developed around this combination of mobility and travel utility. Its design brings together a rideable chassis, integrated storage, smart connectivity, and a compact form factor, allowing the product to function as both a cabin-oriented suitcase and a personal short-distance mobility device.
Integrated Structural Design and Intelligent Ride Control
The SE3SX combines its luggage body with an electric riding system, creating a unified product architecture rather than treating the mobility mechanism as a separate accessory. The official EPDA description emphasizes the integration of power, control, and storage, together with an aerospace-grade aluminum-magnesium alloy construction and a minimalist structural appearance.
Under its riding configuration, the SE3SX uses a 230W brushless motor, a 5.2-inch motor-driven front wheel, and two 4-inch rear auxiliary wheels. Its electric telescopic front-wheel mechanism extends the wheelbase by 180 mm with a single touch, helping establish a more stable riding configuration. The product reaches a maximum riding speed of 9.9 km/h, supports a maximum load of 95 kg, and is designed to handle inclines of approximately 6° under specified operating conditions.
The riding handle is designed to simplify the transition between riding and towing. Once extended, the handle locks into position automatically, reducing the need for repeated manual adjustments. This interaction is part of Airwheel’s broader design objective: making advanced mobility functions accessible through a familiar luggage form.
A Connected Interface Through the Airwheel App
The SE3SX extends its physical controls through a dedicated smart app, connecting the suitcase to a mobile device. The app provides access to selected riding and product-management functions, including riding speed information, battery status, cumulative mileage, speed-level adjustment, and lighting customization.
Users can also access functions such as telescopic control, low-battery notifications, Bluetooth disconnection reminders, and remote-control features, depending on the applicable product configuration and software support.
This digital layer positions the suitcase as more than a self-propelled luggage platform. It provides an interface through which users can interact with product settings and monitor selected operating information, bringing connected-device functionality into a travel product.
For Airwheel, the objective is not to introduce technology for its own sake. The focus is on making controls more accessible, reducing unnecessary operational steps, and integrating digital functionality into a product people use during real journeys.
Apple Find My Integration for Luggage Location Assistance
The SE3SX supports integration with Apple Find My, offering users an additional way to locate and identify their suitcase through the Apple ecosystem.
For travelers, luggage tracking can be particularly useful in busy terminals, transportation hubs, and other environments where multiple bags may look similar. Apple Find My integration provides a location-assistance feature within a familiar digital environment, while proximity-based sound alerts can help users identify the suitcase when it is nearby and supported by the relevant functionality.
The feature complements, rather than replaces, responsible luggage handling and travel security practices. Its availability and specific capabilities depend on the Apple Find My ecosystem, device compatibility, and applicable operating conditions.
Compact Cabin-Oriented Design and Removable Battery
Designed as a 20-inch cabin-oriented smart rideable suitcase, the SE3SX measures approximately 530 × 360 × 236 mm and offers a 20-liter storage capacity. Its construction combines ABS+PC materials with an aviation-grade aluminum alloy frame, while the suitcase weighs approximately 6.6 kg excluding the portable power bank.
The SE3SX is powered by a removable 73.26Wh lithium battery backed by multiple international certifications. Its detachable battery architecture is engineered to support applicable aviation transportation requirements, enabling the battery to be separated from the suitcase when necessary. By integrating certified battery technology with a removable design, Airwheel combines intelligent mobility with the practical demands of modern international travel.
The SE3SX also includes a TSA-compatible lock, supporting inspection procedures where applicable. Its compact dimensions, integrated riding system, and removable battery architecture reflect the challenge of balancing mobility, storage, portability, and transport considerations within a single product.
Extending the Travel Experience Through USB Connectivity
The SE3SX incorporates a USB output interface designed to support charging for compatible everyday electronic devices. This adds a practical connectivity function to the luggage platform, allowing users to access power for devices such as smartphones and other USB-compatible electronics when supported by the product’s power system.
The USB interface forms part of Airwheel’s wider product philosophy: useful technology should be integrated into the travel experience without making the product unnecessarily complex. Alongside the riding system, app connectivity, and luggage functionality, the charging interface contributes to a more connected approach to personal travel equipment.
Building a Broader Smart Rideable Suitcase Portfolio
The SE3SX is part of Airwheel’s broader smart rideable suitcase portfolio, which includes products designed for different travel requirements, user groups, and mobility scenarios.
The SE3SX Smart Carry on Rideable Cabin Suitcase combines a 20-liter cabin-oriented format with electric riding, app connectivity, Apple Find My integration, and an integrated luggage design. It is positioned within Airwheel’s premium smart travel product range.
The SE3SXD AI Luxury Suitcase introduces a next-generation automatic riding configuration, with one-touch deployment of its front wheel and riding handle. Its design explores more automated interaction between the user and the suitcase.
The SE3SL+ Airport Boarding Suitcase combines electric riding with app connectivity, USB charging, and location-tracking functionality, supporting users who frequently move through airports and other short-distance travel environments.
The SE3T AI Wheel Suitcase provides a larger-capacity format for users who require additional storage space during longer trips and family travel.
The SE3MiniT Electric Hand Suitcase focuses on a compact, lightweight format for short-distance mobility and everyday travel scenarios.
The SQ3S Kids Suitcase is designed for family travel, combining a rideable luggage format with speed-limiting features intended for children.
Together, these products demonstrate Airwheel’s effort to apply electric drive, intelligent control, and product-specific design approaches across different luggage formats. The portfolio is not built around a single type of traveler; it explores how smart mobility can be adapted to varying travel distances, storage requirements, and user needs.
Continued Investment in Intelligent Mobility Technologies
Airwheel’s development of smart rideable luggage forms part of a wider focus on intelligent mobility and human-machine interaction. The company’s technology areas include motion control algorithms, electric drive systems, intelligent sensing, and structural design.
With more than 600 global patents, Airwheel continues to develop products across smart mobility and connected travel categories. Its portfolio includes self-balancing vehicles, electric scooters, smart folding bikes, smart wheelchairs, and smart rideable suitcases.
The SE3SX illustrates this product-development direction through the combination of an electric propulsion system, integrated structural design, connected controls, and a compact luggage platform. Its recognition in the 2026 European Product Design Awards reflects the relevance of bringing these design and engineering considerations together within a consumer travel product.
As smart mobility technology continues to develop, Airwheel is exploring how intelligent functions can be incorporated into everyday products without losing sight of usability, portability, and practical travel requirements.
The Airwheel’s broader objective is to make mobility technology more accessible in daily life, bringing together design, engineering, and intelligent interaction to create products that help people move through their journeys with greater flexibility.
Media Contact
Company: Airwheel
Contact: Media Team
Email: Jonas@airwheel.net
Website: https://www.airwheel.net
Millie James is an American real estate investor and Adjunct Professor in Entrepreneurship, Emeritus at Business School.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.
