2009 New York Auto Show: Riding in the GM/Segway PUMA

From a New York perspective, GM’s new collaboration with sidewalk-scooter-maker Segway yielded something akin to two-thirds of a bicycle rickshaw. (Read: “GM and Segway team on PUMA electric two-wheeler.”)

Since our original report, we had a chance to ride in the PUMA (Project for Urban Mobility and Accessibility). We didn’t go very fast on the carpet in the New York International Auto Show convention hall, but Derek, my driver, took me back and forth for a few laps, answering lots of questions all the way.

Much like a Segway the PUMA balances on two wheels side-by-side. But that’s about where the similarity ends. Occupants in the PUMA (if you can call them that) sit down. A stalk, like the Segway’s handle controls the speed. A yoke on the end of the stalk steers it.

Once you sit down, close the side safety bar, and put on the four-point safety harness, the machine lifts the front wheels off the ground and rises upright to balance.

As Derek pushes the stalk forward to bring the PUMA upright, the vehicle’s body slides forward relative to the “chassis” including the floor of the vehicle. I have to keep my knees flexible as the body – and my seat – slide over the floor as Derek pushes the control stalk back and forth. Once you get used to the odd sensation, the PUMA feels perfectly stable.

It is odd to notice your feet, still fully on the floorboard, sticking out in front of the vehicle when it slows down or kneels to park.

Fortunately, Derek is friendly, as the cockpit is extremely tight for two. My right shoulder feels like it’s sticking out the side of the frame as we whir along. Sitting in the PUMA feels more like dangling inside a schoolyard jungle gym than in a car. Derek, however, tells me the tubular frame is designed to provide rollover protection, should the motor or software fail and send the PUMA tumbling.

Unfortunately, that and a four-point harness are about all the safety you get with this prototype. In production form, the PUMA is expected to be encased in a protective body with sophisticated safety systems developed with General Motors.

The big question is could a vehicle like the PUMA ever be legal? With a 35 mph top speed, it doesn’t qualify as a neighborhood electric vehicle. But it’s clearly not a full-fledged car, either.

GM says the PUMA has a 35-mile range, using four Segway battery packs, for a total of about 0.8 kw/h. It is estimated the packs would take 6-8 hours to recharge on a 110-volt household outlet. Derek said the project had been in development for 18 months, long before the worst of the financial crisis began to threaten GM’s survival. And word is that this prototype was assembled in just 90 days.

The biggest irony to me is that GM chose to introduce the project in New York, where the original Segways are effectively banned from both the street and the sidewalk. According to Segway’s Web site [LINK: http://www.segway.com/puma/] the PUMA, like the Segway itself, is designed to cover the “last mile” of travel from a subway or train station to your house, office or final destination. The problem has long been a bugaboo for public transit systems in suburbs where destinations are often too far to walk.

Meanwhile, the PUMA is strictly a concept, with far too many legal and practical hurdles to to make it to production any time soon. That said, it is a nifty bit of hardware.
 
-- Eric Evarts

See Consumer Reports' coverage of the 2009 New York auto show.

Comments

[david]

I had a chance to try a Segway once for a couple of minutes. Price would have to come down to $200 for me to buy one, which will be for fun. I can't imagine why anyone would get a Segway when a bike is more fun and you get an exercise as well.