[Quietcars] GM and Segway unveil new two-wheeled urban vehicle

Wed Apr 8 20:43:28 UTC 2009

If this the future of GM, they are sorrowful missing the boat.  It's not
what I could call a pleasure cruise, but then again, we have our fingers in
that pie of the quiet vehicle, once again. It's all electric, all the while
not making any noise at all.  Thanks, Chuck.  I appreciated this, although I
watch quite a bit of television and saw this yesterday at an unveiling.   

Mike T

-----Original Message-----
From: quietcars-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:quietcars-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of ckrugman at sbcglobal.net
Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 11:27 AM
To: NFB quietcars
Subject: [Quietcars] GM and Segway unveil new two-wheeled urban vehicle

Thought this would be of interest.
Chuck

    Yahoo! News   

GM and Segway unveil new two-wheeled urban vehicle

By BREE FOWLER and DAN STRUMPF, AP Auto Writers  Tue Apr 7, 1:38 pm ET 

NEW YORK - A solution to the world's urban transportation problems could lie
in two wheels not four, according to executives for General Motors Corp. and
Segway Inc.

The companies announced Tuesday that they are working together to develop a
two-wheeled, two-seat electric vehicle designed to be a fast, safe,
inexpensive and clean alternative to traditional cars and trucks for cities
across the world.

The Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility, or PUMA, project also would
involve a vast communications network that would allow vehicles to interact
with each other, regulate the flow of traffic and prevent crashes from
happening.

"We're excited about doing more with less," said Jim Norrod, chief executive
of Segway, the Bedford, N.H.-based maker of electric scooters. "Less
emissions, less dependability on foreign oil and less space."

The 300-pound prototype runs on a lithium-ion battery and uses Segway's
characteristic two-wheel balancing technology, along with dual electric
motors.
It's designed to reach speeds of up to 35 miles-per-hour and can run 35
miles on a single charge.

The companies did not release a projected cost for the vehicle, but said
ideally its total operating cost - including purchase price, insurance,
maintenance and fuel - would total between one-fourth and one-third of that
of the average traditional vehicle.

Larry Burns, GM's vice president of research and development, and strategic
planning, said the project is part of Detroit-based GM's effort to remake
itself as a purveyor of fuel-efficient vehicles. If Hummer took GM to the
large-vehicle extreme, Burns said, the PUMA takes GM to the other.

Ideally, the vehicles would also be part of a communications network that
through the use of transponder and GPS technology would allow them to drive
themselves.
The vehicles would automatically avoid obstacles such as pedestrians and
other cars and therefore never crash, Burns said.

As a result, the PUMA vehicles would not need air bags or other traditional
safety devices and include safety belts for "comfort purposes" only, he
said.

Though the technology and its goals may seem like something out of science
fiction, Burns said nothing new needs to be invented for it to become a
reality.

"At this point, it's merely a business decision," he said.

Burns said that while putting that kind of communications infrastructure in
place may still be a ways off for many American cities, the automaker is
looking for a place, such as a college campus, where the vehicles could be
put to use and grab a foothold in the market.

There's currently no timeline for production, Burns said.

The ambitious announcement also comes at a time when GM's future is hanging
by a thread after receiving billions of dollars in federal aid and is in the
midst of a vast restructuring that could still lead to a filing for
bankruptcy protection.

Meanwhile, the ongoing recession has resulted in some of the lowest
industrywide vehicle sales in more than a quarter century.

But Burns argued that some of the most revolutionary ideas have been born
out of tough economic times.

"The next two months, and really 2009, is all about the reinvention of
General Motors," he said.

Copyright C 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information
contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten
or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated
Press. 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090407/ap_on_bi_ge/general_motors_segway
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