Which Rideable Robots Can You Buy Today?
One family of rideable robots is orderable today: the DaxAI Qiji horses, which opened pre-sale on JD.com in August 2026. We track this category release by release in the guides we publish here. Everything else a person can sit on is an exhibition machine, a concept, or a toy.
DaxAI publishes no English-language site. JD.com is the only buyer-facing channel we can point you at, and every DaxAI figure below is a company claim that nobody outside the company has tested.
The machines split three ways once you sort them by what a buyer can do with them today. One family takes orders, two Japanese machines do not, and a large toy tier sits underneath all of them.
| Machine | Status | Rider or load | Top speed | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DaxAI Qiji X1 | Pre-sale open on JD.com | 300 kg dynamic load (DaxAI claim) | 10 km/h | About 289,000 yuan (~US$43,000) |
| DaxAI Qiji XS | Pre-sale open on JD.com | Not published (machine weighs 320 kg) | 40 km/h | Above the X1, figure not published in English |
| Kawasaki BEX | Demonstrated 2022, not sold | Around 100 kg | Walking pace, not published | No retail price |
| Kawasaki CORLEO | Concept, full-scale mock-up | Not demonstrated | Not demonstrated | No price exists |
| Ride-on robot dog toys | On sale from many sellers | Child weight limits | Walking pace | Low hundreds of dollars |
The DaxAI Qiji Horses Are Taking Orders
DaxAI unveiled the Qiji robotic horses at the World Robot Conference in Beijing on 19 August 2026, and put them on pre-sale the same week. Wedoany reported the launch alongside a three-year cooperation agreement with JD.com, which is how a buyer outside a trade show can reach them at all.
The X1 is the point-foot model, and DaxAI publishes a full specification for it. The 1,400 Nm joint torque DaxAI claims stops a leg from folding under an adult rider. None of these figures has been independently tested.
The XS is the wheel-foot model, and the one in the viral photographs. DaxAI gives it a 320 kg weight and a 40 km/h top speed. It switches automatically between wheels for flat ground and legs for gullies and dirt slopes, and DaxAI has published no rider payload for it.
Published range for the XS does not agree across sources. Wedoany reports 60 km, and tech360tv reports 100 km, so treat the number as unsettled until DaxAI publishes a spec sheet.
Price is clearer on the X1 than the XS. tech360tv puts the X1 at around 289,000 yuan, roughly US$43,000, and says the XS costs more without naming a figure.
Pre-sale is not delivery. DaxAI describes small-scale deliveries first and full-scale manufacturing later. Wedoany reports reservation perks of five years of maintenance and free over-the-air updates through 2031, a long promise from a company selling its first product.
DaxAI's published figures for the X1 are:
- Weight: 300 kg (DaxAI claim)
- Dynamic load: 300 kg (DaxAI claim)
- Top speed: 7 to 10 km/h (DaxAI claim)
- Range: about 40 km (DaxAI claim)
- Operating time: 8 to 10 hours on a 165V pack (DaxAI claim)
- Maximum joint torque: 1,400 Nm (DaxAI claim)
Kawasaki BEX Has Carried Real Riders Since 2022
Kawasaki BEX is the rideable quadruped with the longest track record, and it has never been for sale. It appeared at the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo in 2022, built on the Kaleido humanoid work Kawasaki Robotics has run since 2015 and developed with the University of Tokyo.
BEX is modelled on an ibex, a wild goat, and it carries roughly 100 kg. That covers one adult rider or a load of building material, which is the industrial job Kawasaki has always described for it.
Its defining trick is switching between legs and wheels. It kneels onto wheels at its feet and knees to cross smooth ground, then stands back up on four legs when the surface breaks up.
Steering is by handlebars rather than by body weight. That makes BEX simpler to ride than the weight-shift control Kawasaki has designed for CORLEO. A rider could get on BEX at a trade show with no training.
None of that makes it purchasable. Kawasaki has published no retail price and no order route. Our guide to what sport and novelty robots cost explains why machines in this class are quoted per project rather than listed.
Nobody Has Ridden the Kawasaki CORLEO
The Kawasaki CORLEO is the machine most people mean by rideable robot, and it is the least able to carry a rider. Kawasaki showed it at the Osaka-Kansai Expo preview on 4 April 2025 as a full-scale model that stands and poses.
The galloping footage is computer animation. Kawasaki has shown no video of CORLEO walking under its own power, and we cover the programme in detail in our Kawasaki CORLEO explainer.
The design is genuinely different from the Chinese machines. A 150cc hydrogen engine charges a battery that drives the legs, the rider steers by shifting weight, and the feet are split rubber hooves for grip on uneven rock.
Kawasaki's public milestones run to a riding simulator in 2027, a deployment at World Expo 2030 in Riyadh, and commercialisation around 2035. A full-scale mock-up went to gamescom in August 2026, which is the current state of the hardware.
Ride-On Robot Dogs and the Toy Tier
Most search traffic for a ride-on robot dog lands on toys. A ride-on robot dog sold for a few hundred dollars is a powered ride-on toy with a dog-shaped shell. Sellers rate them for children, and the weight limit is on the box.
The quadrupeds people picture, from vendors like Unitree and DEEP Robotics, publish payload ratings for sensors and cargo rather than for riders. Read the payload line on the Unitree B2 spec sheet or the DEEP Robotics X30 spec sheet before anyone sits on one. Loading a machine past its rated payload is the standard route to a warranty refusal.
Every serious inspection quadruped publishes that rating. A machine rated in the tens of kilograms will not carry 70 kg of moving human, and no firmware update changes that.
If the goal is a robot dog rather than a ride, the buying questions are completely different. Our guide to robot dogs for sale covers what those cost and which are supported outside China.
How to Choose Between Them
Pick by the ground the machine has to survive. Three checks settle almost every case in this category, and they run in this order:
Wheels are faster and cheaper on anything graded. Legs only earn their cost where a wheeled vehicle cannot go at all, which is why the Qiji XS carries both.
Road legality is the check almost nobody runs first. None of these machines holds a vehicle type approval in the United States, the United Kingdom, or the European Union. None can be registered for road use in those markets.
That leaves private land, and private land has its own limits. Insurers price an unclassified 320 kg self-balancing machine as an unknown, and a farm or estate carrying visitors will want that answered before a demonstration rather than after one.
Support is the second check, and a cross-border purchase usually fails on it. A machine sold through a Chinese pre-sale reaches a buyer in North America or Europe with no dealer and no spare-parts channel. Budget for shipping a 320 kg machine back, or for writing it off.
The payload check comes last and matters most. A dynamic load figure that includes the rider is the only figure that describes carrying a person, and a manufacturer that publishes none has answered the question.
- Graded ground and speed: a wheeled vehicle beats a legged one
- Genuinely broken terrain and a rider: the Qiji XS is the only orderable option
- Cargo across a work site rather than a rider: a tracked or wheeled carrier costs far less
- You want one this decade and support locally: nothing in this category qualifies yet
Who Should Not Buy a Rideable Robot
Anyone who needs reliable transport should buy a vehicle instead. A side-by-side or a trail bike will cost less than the Qiji X1, go further, and be repairable by someone within driving distance.
Farms and work sites moving loads over rough ground are also better served elsewhere. A tracked carrier does that job today at a fraction of the price, without a joint that can fail under a person.
The buyer this category does suit is narrow: a research group, a demonstration programme, or a collector who wants the machine itself and can absorb the support gap.
Two developments would change this answer. The first is a Qiji delivered outside China with a serviceable parts channel, and the second is any manufacturer publishing a rider-rated payload with a safety standard behind it.
Until then the recommendation is to wait and watch DaxAI's delivery record. Pre-orders are a promise, and a first year of deliveries turns a rideable robot from a video into a product.
Bottom Line
You can order a DaxAI Qiji today. You could ride a Kawasaki BEX at a show, and the machine in every video is a concept aimed at 2035. Before any deposit, ask DaxAI for a rider payload in kilograms and a named service route in your country. Those two answers decide whether a rideable robot is a vehicle or an exhibit.
Read our Kawasaki CORLEO explainer for the full timeline, or compare working four-legged platforms in our industrial quadruped guide.
FAQs
Can you buy a rideable robot?
Yes, from one company. DaxAI opened pre-sale on its Qiji X1 and Qiji XS robotic horses through JD.com in August 2026, with the X1 quoted at around 289,000 yuan (about US$43,000). Kawasaki BEX and Kawasaki CORLEO are not for sale.
How much does a rideable robot horse cost?
The DaxAI Qiji X1 is reported at around 289,000 yuan, roughly US$43,000, with the wheel-footed XS priced higher. No Western manufacturer publishes a price for a rideable quadruped, and Kawasaki has published none for BEX or CORLEO.
Can you ride a robot dog like a Unitree or Deep Robotics quadruped?
No. Those quadrupeds publish payload ratings for sensors and cargo, not for an adult rider. Loading one past its rated payload risks the leg actuators and is the standard ground for a warranty refusal, regardless of what demonstration videos show.
Is the Kawasaki rideable robot real?
Two are. Kawasaki BEX is a real rideable quadruped demonstrated in 2022 but never sold. Kawasaki CORLEO exists only as a full-scale model that stands and poses, and the footage of it running is computer animation.
How fast is the fastest rideable robot?
The DaxAI Qiji XS is the fastest with a published figure, at 40 km/h, which it reaches on wheels rather than legs. The point-footed Qiji X1 walks at 7 to 10 km/h, and no legged-only rideable machine has published a verified higher speed.
Which countries are building rideable robots?
China and Japan lead. DaxAI in Beijing is taking orders through JD.com, and Kawasaki in Japan has the two best-known machines in BEX and CORLEO. We have found no North American or European manufacturer selling a rideable quadruped.