PUMA – Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility Vehicle
The name is still to be clarified as, so far what is know is that it is a part of a project called “PUMA” – Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility.
GM and Segway are working together to create this marvelous little vehicle. It uses the balancing technology of the Segway - the famous two-wheeled recreational vehicle, and is planned to incorporate networking abilities between the vehicles taking traveling to a whole new level. It has a communication system that includes a built in GPS system, so this new vehicle would actually be able to navigate itself and spot obstacles in the road. This allows for a reduced rate of accidents, which is a healthy addition for any driver and it will sort out a lot of the “road rage” incidents. Because you can have the option for the vehicle to take you to your designated destination without you having to drive you will have more time for your morning newspaper, or a book on your Kindle. It can easily be turned into an entertainment box – couple of touch screens, broadband internet, sounds like a plan…
It will definitely change how GM looks in the eyes of a certain niche of consumers, by making smart decisions for the future and ensuring a place among electric car manufacturers. After all electric cars are our future the faster we accept them and change our polluting vehicles with more environmentally friendly ones the better for all of us. Another rumor that creates hype around the PUMA project is that it will retail for about a 1/4 of the price of a modern day vehicle, which in the time of financial crisis may be crucial to the success of any endeavor.
The two-wheeled Segway-based vehicle is weighting 300 pounds and being propelled by lithium-ion batteries. One charge is good for about 35 miles. The name is still to be clarified as, so far what is know is that it is a part of a project called “PUMA” – Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility.
The prototype version of the vehicle doesn’t have side doors, but some of the concept images that we have seen show that already sorted out…
It is far from being introduced straight away to the metropolitan city areas, a process like that will take a lot more time, but to start with it will be implemented as a transportational network in the university areas and small towns.
