Video: Segway P.U.M.A. In Action!

Unlike lucky Carrie Melago at the Daily News, we did not have the opportunity to test-drive the P.U.M.A.—a new battery-powered prototype from Segway and GM—but this HD video is the next best thing. Watch in wonder as the bespectacled white guy cruises through Brooklyn Heights at top speeds of 35 m.p.h., then, through the magic of Hollywood, winds up by the Flatiron building with a gal pal! Too bad there's no footage of his death-defying P.U.M.A. ride over the Manhattan Bridge.

As for Melago, she just rode shotgun on a little test run over by the High Line, and reports that "the ride was cramped—there was virtually no legroom, which is saying a lot because I'm only 5 feet tall. It was much smoother than taking my husband's Honda Accord up the West Side Highway and, with a maximum speed of 35 mph, probably faster." Guess she should have married a real man with a P.U.M.A.! Unfortunately, at this time the P.U.M.A. is neither for sale nor legal for use on city streets, to say nothing of the West Side Highway.

And while Segway officials assure Crunch Gear that P.U.M.A. "will have beefed up suspension to handle rough terrain like NYC’s pothole riddled streets," the Post's doubting Thomas Topousis is skeptical P.U.M.A. will ever legally prowl the streets of New York: "In a city that can barely keep its streets functioning, and where lawmakers are tied in knots over funding mass transit, the chances of creating an entirely new system of lanes and dedicated parking is hard to imagine."

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By John Del Signore in News on April 8, 2009 1:57 PM

Comments [rss]

lostwallet

Last I checked, my co-op board wasn't too excited about me plugging it in in the lobby. Where ARE New Yorkers supposed to plug-in all these plug-in vehicles, anyway?

It's not like ConEd gives away electricity for free.

Spirit of 76

Something this small may have a removable battery pack that you can just wheel into your apartment like a roller suitcase. Full-size electric cars are a different matter, unless you live in your own house in the outer boroughs with a garage.

Wow, you posted this at 7:19 P.M.? You must be a time traveler. MovableType screws up again.

pete

Into a lamp post and hope nobody realizes it.

theboneranger

OOOOOOOR you could just get a bike!

austin5454

reminds me of this car from south park:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/79/IT_(South_Park%3B_The_Entity).jpeg

pete

No license plate

Not insured

Not registered

No seat belts

No horn

No lights

No airbags

No emissions test

No license plate light

Improper lane change

Reckless Driving

Tires not meeting inspection criteria

No parking brake

No rear view mirror

No windshield wiper

No recognized steering mechanism

No muffler

Glass not approved for vehicle usage

No rear window

No emergency flashers

No Approved Emission control device

No bumpers

Defective body

The driver of this thing is going upstate for many many years.

Spirit of 76

What part of "prototype" is hard to understand? Most concept cars that you see at auto shows aren't street-legal, either. And a lot of your objections also apply to Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, which are street-legal, although not highway-legal. Why would an electric vehicle need a muffler or emissions control devices?

SP

It actually does have seatbelts.

Quidnam

With the possible exception of a horn, you're perfectly describing the thousands of cyclists who navigate the streets of NYC daily.

RevWaldo

I'm kinda wondering why not having, say, a third wheel on the front instead of using all the cost-multiplying gyroscopic-cybernetic hoodoo needed to keep it balanced on two wheels would make it any less drivable.