The GM./Segway PUMA

MrBishop

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
:bitchslap
No...it's not an "Onion Article"
No, it's not a forgotten April Fool's joke

OMG..what were they thinking??!?
:barfonu:
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US carmaker General Motors is joining with scooter maker Segway to make a new type of two-seat electric vehicle.
The prototype, which will debut in New York, is aimed at urban driving. GM aims to start making them by 2012.
The vehicle, named Puma, has a top speed of 35mph and can go as far as 35 miles on a single charge. It will use lithium-ion batteries.

GM, having been bailed out by the US government, is looking to smaller vehicles to secure its future.
Puma stands for personal urban mobility and accessibility.

'Dramatically different'
GM has already received at least $13bn in aid from the US government and seems likely to enter bankruptcy. It is looking to more environmentally-friendly models as consumers have abandoned their expensive trucks and cars.
"We are excited to be working together to demonstrate a dramatically different approach to urban mobility," said Jim Norrod, chief of Segway.

Segway introduced its personal transporter in 2002 and has sold more than 2,000 in the UK.
They are capable of speeds up to 12mph and cost £4,795.
The personal scooters came to international prominence when US President George W Bush fell off one while on holiday in 2003.
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Link
 
Dave

Dave

Well-Known Member
its ugly as sin, but at least they are thinking. Small personal transports for the city is a good idea. Especially for the over-congested coastal cities.
 
Altron

Altron

Well-Known Member
Electrics are cool, but the infrastructure to support them isn't here yet. What irks me to no end, and what I've never heard a decent response to, is where do you plug it in?

The fact that it can't hold any cargo or go above 35mph strictly limits it to urban areas. In the Northeast, at least, most cities have apartments, with parking either on the street, or in a parking garage. There's nowhere you can park a car and plug it into your house, unless they decide to have free electricity available from parking meters.

With or without electric cars, there's still massive traffic congestion in NYC. Making the cars burn less gas isn't going to fix that.

I think there needs to be more emphasis on improved public transit systems. They're already electric. Spend some money improving and expanding them, and they'd be a pretty good solution.

I don't think forcing them to make hybrids, fuel cells, and electrics that the consumers aren't ready for is going to bring them back from the edge of bankruptcy. Case in point - the Chevy Volt is supposed to cost $40k. Nobody's going to buy a $40k Chevy sedan. It's got the same interior comforts and exterior styling as a $25k Japanese import, and it will probably take decades to recoup the $15k price difference.
 
Inkara1

Inkara1

Well-Known Member
Your government in action... if you want bailout money, this is the kind of shit you have to inflict the public with.
 
catocom

catocom

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't get on the road with it, but I'd sure love to have on with off road tires.

*wonders if it'd pull a plow....
 
GrandCaravanSE

GrandCaravanSE

Active Member
Instead of having horrible idas, just bring back the EV1, that car was awsome. the chevy Volt does not count. the volt has a Gas engine, and can only go 40 miles witgout using any gas. the EV1 can go for upto and over 120 miles without needing to be recharged. i don't know about you but i don't even drive 50miles in one day.
 
2minkey

2minkey

bootlicker
hmmmm, it's the ultimate aspirational vehicle for the tasteless classes. a step beyond the corvettes that strippers in dallas drive.
 
Inkara1

Inkara1

Well-Known Member
2minkey said:
huh?
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Smog regulations starting in the late 1960s and increasing in the early 1970s, along with the first fuel crisis, led to shitboxes like the Vega and Chevette, as well as embarrassments like 302-cubic-inch V8s that made 105 horsepower.
 
Inkara1

Inkara1

Well-Known Member
GrandCaravanSE said:
Instead of having horrible idas, just bring back the EV1, that car was awsome. the chevy Volt does not count. the volt has a Gas engine, and can only go 40 miles witgout using any gas. the EV1 can go for upto and over 120 miles without needing to be recharged. i don't know about you but i don't even drive 50miles in one day.
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I drive a lot more than 50 miles in one day pretty often. I bought my current car a year ago and have put 21,000 miles on it in that one year. That's an average of nearly 58 miles per day over the course of the year. The Volt would be a lot more practical for me than the EV1 because in the event I do have to drive beyond the electric-only range of the car, I can burn gasoline and continue on to my destination, instead of having to stop and plug in my car for eight hours (not to mention little things like having a trunk and more than two seats). Also, the EV1 was never meant to be something sold to the public at large. It was leased to people as a research project, because a few hundred of them in the hands of real drivers will come up on a lot of everyday situations that GM's engineers could probably not anticipate. Honda is doing the same research leasing thing with its hydrogen-fueled FCX Clarity car now. Things GM learned with the EV1 have probably made their way into the Volt.
 
V

valkyrie

Well-Known Member
Here's my problem with th GM/Segway vehicle... delivery trucks/vans and 18 wheelers... and hell, trucks in general. I see my skull being bumper high and no protection. Since no city will be able to ban delivery trucks or any other vehicles delivering goods to the stores I'd be at risk of getting into a deadly accident with one of those.

Besides, I drive about 90 miles a day commuting. I'll stick to my 34 mpg Ford Escape Hybrid. I live on a dirt road, so I need high clearance anyway.
 
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