We’ve long seen the small personal Segway machines on TV and cruising around town. Although the personal sized auto-leveling transporters have never yet seen the popularity that the company imagined - the Segway has done quite well.
Now General Motors and Segway are teaming up to present what is basically a two person version of the original Segway “people mover”. It uses a host of technology including electric drive, lithium-ion batter, dynamic stabilization, all-electronic acceleration, vehicle-to-vehicle communication and even autonomous driving.
Even more interesting is that this may not be just a concept… all the technology featured on the PUMA vehicle is avaliable today.
“Project P.U.M.A. represents a unique solution to moving about and interacting in cities, where more than half of the world’s people live,” said Larry Burns, GM vice president of research and development, and strategic planning. “Imagine small, nimble electric vehicles that know where other moving objects are and avoid running into them. Now, connect those vehicles in an Internet-like web and you can greatly enhance the ability of people to move through cities, find places to park and connect to their social and business networks.”
Video:
