Project PUMA (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility) is a new joint venture between General Motors and Segway. They’ve created a two-wheeled electric vehicle designed for urban use, that can get up to 35 mph, and supposedly gets 35 miles from a single charge. Kind of cool, no doubt – but wouldn’t a bike be a better, less complicated solution for urban transport? The PUMA will be shown at the New York Auto Show this week
Crunch Gear has more:
Aside from the promise of nimble, inexpensive transportation, the press release says, “The vehicle also enables design creativity, fashion, fun and social networking.” Ah yes, social networking: the ultimate feature to distract the driver of a rotor-less personal street helicopter with two wheels and no doors.
Although the details of the vehicle’s connectedness haven’t been fully revealed, it’s been indicated that the PUMA will leverage GM’s OnStar system to relay the locations of your friends and family who happen to be tooling around town in their own PUMAs at the same time as you.
Crunch Gear: “GM and Segway announce two-wheeled urban transport vehicle”
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I agree. It’s a noble idea in theory. But it would only be effective on a mass level. Otherwise it doesn’t offer much that doesn’t already exist.
April 7th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Ultra lame.
April 7th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
I dunno but this promotes laziness. Why ride in that thing when you can just take a short walk from one place to another.
April 9th, 2009 at 2:30 am
In this age of keeping our earth green, this is just another option. It doesn’t promote laziness. It can be seen to be catering to those that are lazy. How many people you know that will drive to their local corner store? It’s like saying that the new Big Mac Xtra will promote obesity.
April 9th, 2009 at 10:03 pm