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GM, Segway team up on 200-mpg 2-seater

danarhea

danarhea

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These cars can cruise in the city at 35 MPH and get 200 MPG. These vehicles, due to be in mass production in a couple of years, will make those who purchase them very happy - That is, until they get into an accident with an SUV.

Bottom line - I value my life too much to purchase one of these death traps.

seg_wayx.jpg


Article is here.
 
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How exactly is this better than a motorcycle or a bike? Segways were stupid not because of bad technology, but because they didn't have a useful purpose.
 
rathi said:
How exactly is this better than a motorcycle or a bike? Segways were stupid not because of bad technology, but because they didn't have a useful purpose.
Click to expand...

Segways are awesome, and do have a useful purpose, from sightseeing/tourist rentals, to large warehouse/corporations, and in planned communities. They're just ahead of their time in that, our country hasn't adopted "auto-free" zones in mass.

What's stupid at this point is that GM is floundering and grasping at this technology, which is really "too little too late".

Had GM started down this path 30 years ago, and worked with it's union employees, establishing planned communities close to it's plants, you'd see a much different scenario today.

The general public isn't going to embrace this.

GM needs a better priced/reliable Camry/Accord and Corolla/Civic, yesterday, in order to survive.
 
danarhea said:
These cars can cruise in the city at 35 MPH and get 200 MPG. These vehicles, due to be in mass production in a couple of years, will make those who purchase them very happy - That is, until they get into an accident with an SUV.

Bottom line - I value my life too much to purchase one of these death traps.

seg_wayx.jpg


Article is here.
Click to expand...

Looks like a glorified, new wave golf cart.
That's their market.

Looks like a death trap to me too, and comparing this to a motorbike?
It looks like it has the maneuverability of an egg with wheels... ready to tip over if you make a quick move.

.
 
GottaHurt said:
Segways are awesome, and do have a useful purpose, from sightseeing/tourist rentals, to large warehouse/corporations, and in planned communities. They're just ahead of their time in that, our country hasn't adopted "auto-free" zones in mass.

What's stupid at this point is that GM is floundering and grasping at this technology, which is really "too little too late".

Had GM started down this path 30 years ago, and worked with it's union employees, establishing planned communities close to it's plants, you'd see a much different scenario today.

The general public isn't going to embrace this.

GM needs a better priced/reliable Camry/Accord and Corolla/Civic, yesterday, in order to survive.
Click to expand...
Wasn't the company town idea tried and abandoned by some companies in the US years ago?

.
 
RightinNYC said:
I know lots of people who are praying for a GM bankruptcy.

Let's just say that I think they're ecstatic to see this article.
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I wonder if Obama is going to curtail the legal fees for GM?
You know, strong arm the company that would profit from handling the bankruptcy?

It's tax payer money funding things at GM after all.

.
 
zimmer said:
I wonder if Obama is going to curtail the legal fees for GM?
You know, strong arm the company that would profit from handling the bankruptcy?

It's tax payer money funding things at GM after all.

.
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They would just refuse to do it. Some firms have taken bailout work at significant discounts to their normal hourly rates, but that's because their clients are hurting and they want the publicity/connections. Weil is absolutely swamped and doesn't need the publicity, and is one of very few firms that is capable of handling such a cluster****.
 
zimmer said:
Looks like a glorified, new wave golf cart.
That's their market.

Looks like a death trap to me too, and comparing this to a motorbike?
It looks like it has the maneuverability of an egg with wheels... ready to tip over if you make a quick move.

.
Click to expand...

You can go HERE for a rendering of a concept sketch for what it'd look like.

The images we're seeing is essentially the shell. Its like looking at a car without any of the paneling, etc on it.

In regards to tipping, it in general shouldn't happen. From what I've read from people that have ridden in it it feels amazingly stable and actually less forces feeling like its exerted on you during acceleration or deceleration based on the physics of it. It functions off of a lot of the same mechanics as the Segway scooters, allowing for apparently a near 0 turning radius and amazing balance.

Their hope is to demo this out in cities that have dedicated bike lanes that would allow for this to be used.

I applaud GM for trying something new. I think the issue with this, and the Segway's, as Gottahurt stated is that it really takes a good bit of community planning to make these work on a wide basis.

Benefits of this over a Motorcycle? Well, a few things. First, it seems it'll get good gas mileage. Even my little 250cc Cycle that I have gets 80mpg. This is reportedly going for 200. Additionally, it'll have a roof making it likely far better for a variety of weather conditions. The passanger area doesn't seem to be more uncomfortable than the main compartment or add any difficulty to riding.

There's benefits of the motorcycle over it as well, but I think it does have some pluses over it.

They're reportedly shooting for a price of about 25% of what a standard car would cost.

Its unique, and innovative. I do think its something that GM should've been making an attempt for years ago, instead of now while they're scrambling.
 
35 minutes on a full charge.


This will be as succsessful as the segway, as in not..


Rember the "IT" campaign? Where are the segways, I never see them it was a good technology step, but essentially useless.

This will fair no better.
 
danarhea said:
These cars can cruise in the city at 35 MPH and get 200 MPG. These vehicles, due to be in mass production in a couple of years, will make those who purchase them very happy - That is, until they get into an accident with an SUV.

Bottom line - I value my life too much to purchase one of these death traps.

seg_wayx.jpg


Article is here.
Click to expand...





Uhm, it's battery powered.
 
Reverend_Hellh0und said:
35 minutes on a full charge.


This will be as succsessful as the segway, as in not..


Rember the "IT" campaign? Where are the segways, I never see them it was a good technology step, but essentially useless.

This will fair no better.
Click to expand...

I see them all the time in large parking lots where security guards use them.
 
danarhea said:
These cars can cruise in the city at 35 MPH and get 200 MPG. These vehicles, due to be in mass production in a couple of years, will make those who purchase them very happy - That is, until they get into an accident with an SUV.

Bottom line - I value my life too much to purchase one of these death traps.

seg_wayx.jpg


Article is here.
Click to expand...
Imagine interstate highways with thousands of Segways crusing along at 60 mph. :lol:
 
Reverend_Hellh0und said:
35 minutes on a full charge.

This will be as succsessful as the segway, as in not..

Rember the "IT" campaign? Where are the segways, I never see them it was a good technology step, but essentially useless.

This will fair no better.
Click to expand...

I was so dissappointed in the Segway.

Not because it wasn't good tech, or that it couldn't be useful. It was just the "IT" thing was built up to be something revolutionary, something that would change the way we think...

And we got the Segway.

I've never seen a population on a message board so let down as the main IT message board the day of the announcement.
 
Reverend_Hellh0und said:
It's a novelty. not a revolution...


And those things are like 5 grand..... :lol:
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I never said anything about a revolution, only that they're popular down here.

$5k, pfffft, yankee tourists don't mind making the payments, to them, a novelty indeed, to us, it's just another way of taking their money. ;)
 
GottaHurt said:
I never said anything about a revolution, only that they're popular down here.
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They did though. "IT"

$5k, pfffft, yankee tourists don't mind making the payments, to them, a novelty indeed, to us, it's just another way of taking their money. ;)
Click to expand...


You can buy a lotta strippers for $5k
 
There is literally no real benefit of that over a bike.

It can go 35 miles an hour but in city traffic you're hardly ever going that fast anyway. And it runs out of charge. And you can't just lock it to a sign.

It's retarded.

The key is mass transit and bikes, not stupid clown cars.
 
Honestly, I always thought it'd be incredibly neat to find a bunch of venture capitalists and try to create a planned community type city with perhaps a university in the vicinity designed around a lot of new tech.

Set it up so that things like Segways, or something like this, can be reliable and workable means of travel through the entire area. Have an electric grid set up to allow for charging of electric vehicles in various places. WIFI across the entire community, etc.

Granted you'd need some kind of main industry along with the college (which would make sense as some kind of tech college) to work. But I think it'd be a rather neat case study of trying to design a modern town based on modern technology.
 
Zyphlin said:
Honestly, I always thought it'd be incredibly neat to find a bunch of venture capitalists and try to create a planned community type city with perhaps a university in the vicinity designed around a lot of new tech.

Set it up so that things like Segways, or something like this, can be reliable and workable means of travel through the entire area. Have an electric grid set up to allow for charging of electric vehicles in various places. WIFI across the entire community, etc.

Granted you'd need some kind of main industry along with the college (which would make sense as some kind of tech college) to work. But I think it'd be a rather neat case study of trying to design a modern town based on modern technology.
Click to expand...

Again, what's the benefit over a bike? If the town is dense enough for segways it's dense enough for bikes. Which require no significant infrastructure. And don't look retarded. And don't result in fat people who can't walk.
 
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