GM, Segway partner on two-wheel city vehicle
A PUMA concept vehicle.
(Credit: GM)General Motors and Segway plan to take a two-wheel concept vehicle for a spin around New York City on Tuesday.
The prototype vehicle, called Project PUMA (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility), is designed to ease congestion and pollution problems in cities. It is based on the Segway Personal Transporter but holds two people, instead of one, and lets them sit, instead of stand.
A PUMA runs on lithium ion batteries, can reach 35 miles per hour, and can travel up to 35 miles between charges.
It includes some high-tech touches, including GM's wireless OnStar communications technology that lets a passenger locate other drivers in a city.
The two-wheeler is meant to address the mounting problems of urban car transportation, according to the two companies that plan to unveil the vehicle at an auto show in New York.
GM is touting other features as well.
"Imagine small, nimble electric vehicles that know where other moving objects are and avoid running into them. Now, connect those vehicles in an Internet-like web and you can greatly enhance the ability of people to move through cities, find places to park and connect to their social and business networks," Larry Burns, GM's vice president of R&D and strategic planning, said in a statement.
GM is looking to drum up excitement for its vehicles as it undergoes a massive restructuring in an effort to become financially viable and more competitive with other automakers.
The Segway Personal Transporter, a two-wheel vehicle that allows people to stand and move around at slow speeds, was released with great fanfare several years ago, but it remains a niche form of transportation.
Martin LaMonica is a senior writer for CNET's Green Tech blog. He started at CNET News in 2002, covering IT and Web development. Before that, he was executive editor at IT publication InfoWorld. E-mail Martin. 
In other news, how about we stop having so many babies, or stop immigration from places having so many babies, and encourage them to have fewer babies. Or, we have to have a cut off age for old people.
Upon turning, say, 80 you just have a massive 'farewell' party, say catch ya later. Mandatory euthanasia. It's going to be a hit.
Do you read what you've typed before you submit it? I could barely get any meaning out of your comment. Proofread next time, please.
I believe that is called Carousel and we'll just end everyone's life at 30 instead. 80 years old takes to long and 80 year olds have made to much poop.
Similarly, American trains shouldn't carry restrooms, restaurants, and beds on them. The trains should go faster, fast enough to eliminate the aisles, too. The technology is available (evacuated tubes), there's no reason not to lead the world into the future.
That's double the milage of a Prius and a lot more fun!
If you're a stickler for electric vehicles, there is an electric scooter that will travel up to 60 miles and can be recharged in 3 hours. You can buy it now.
The PUMA is just another example of the fact that Detroit, particularly GM, is clueless. How many millions have they spent to develop a vehicle that you can't buy, that no one is prepared to service and that most Americans wouldn't want if you gave it to them?
Two wheelers? Absolutely! They're called bicycles, scooters and motorcycles. Don't knock it until you've tried it; I did and I'm leaving my 4 wheeler parked.
Look, come on people, why reinvent the 2-wheels??? We've got plenty of great option already! 2-up riding on a maxi-scooter! They have plenty of power, and storage. The rest of the world has been enjoying the advantages of scooters and motorbikes for years. America is too much into BIG. Big cars. Big meals. Big everything.
The Piaggio MP3 is a three wheeled maxi-scooter already being sold in the USA! Check it out.
If you live in the Southern States, a scooter is fine, but for those of us in the north, this could be a nice option, assuming its balance sensors can handle snow reasonably well.
The PUMA looks like it might sell well in university and corporate campuses and those large empty subdivisions in SoCal and Vegas.
Well- if it is real, at least this thing doesn't look quite as {derogatory term} as the Segway. I don't see this saving GM though.
No, if you look at the picture it actually has 6 wheels but drives on 2 to waste energy.
Replace a car with a smaller car? I don't think so.
I see no means of security for the thing and it has no sides! Put some doors ( or at least a panel) on the sides to protect from the weather!!!!
I must agree with a previous post as to the 2 wheel thing as well. The added electronics to keep it level out weigh the cost a of a third wheel in the front for steering.
I really could see these being used in large urban areas where they would be practical so long as people had a place to keep them and have them charged. I seriously doubt that any pay garages will have outlets available.
And let's face it, most city dwellers don't have a place to keep such things.
If GM/Segway tries to introduce these things, cities will be banning them left and right.
It would, however make the vehicle a huge success. This is a definite Lemming device.
Give me a vanilla version without the revenue generating doodads and I'll buy one or two. Maybe three. But load it up and you'll fail here too. The world has CHANGED and we're not falling for your sales pitches anymore. Accept it.
This reminds me of Chrysler tying to sell little three wheelers (I think that's what they were) in China when the people really wanted a normal car. Three wheelers were all over china already.
One day a little company will blind side the car companies a la MSDOS and IBM. (no crash puns here ok?).
Look at it this way. If a go-cart can't legally drive there, then this thing won't be able to either.
I'm astonished at the negativity here. Not everyone wants to get hot and sweaty to go to a restaurant, and parking is such an issue in downtown Los Angeles (and Beverly Hills) that buses are almost tolerable. These vehicles would provide individual transport with a minimal footprint.
- by Erictheruler1 April 7, 2009 8:12 AM PDT
- If this is my tax dollars at work please stop giving them to GM. If I wanted a segway I would buy one this is a waste of money it's ugly, slow and I think it looks unsafe at any speed....... I'd hate to see a tahoe vs one of these downtown...
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- by jwissick April 8, 2009 12:06 AM PDT
- Tahoe? Imagine a double length city bus against one of these things....
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Showing 1 of 4 pages (96 Comments)Good news is that there will be no need for a police accident report. There will be no evidence the "car" even existed. Just a missing persons report.