Segway's P.U.M.A.

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by Dyne

This thread boggles my mind. The companies have done nothing wrong. Why are people getting upset?

From a design perspective the PUMA works. It seems like there's a lot of filling of blanks being done here despite the problem and solution being quite clear cut on the behalf of the developers of electric cars in general.

I'm not upset with electric cars, per se, but instead I'm upset at stupid ideas being funded by failing companies that rely on your and my tax dollars. The PUMA is not an electric car. It is not intended to be driven on highways or existing infratsructure, but instead is a casual vehicle that demnds that brand new infrastructure be built. That and it's essentially a two seated version of an already failed product.

True electric cars, on the other hand, make more sense because they meet existing demands, use existing infratstructure, but have problems regarding battery life, charging, affordability and disposability. These aren't overwhelming problems, but one's that need to be overcome before they will be widely accepted as a fossil fuel replacement.

Mainly, I am frustrated at simplistic solutions based in idealism and not pragmatism. I'd love to see people combine hydrogen/carbon/electric options to make a beast of a vehicle fit for consumer and commercial use that gets 50-80 mpg but still has excellent power, size and style that have proven to be attractive to American buyers.

We're headed in that direction, but the PUMA does not fit into a workable model, IMO, and they are using taxpayer dollars to do so. Thats my issue.

Jason, if the Volt can do what they claim, it's definitely a step in the right direction, but the proposed price points aren't that great from what I've read. I'd like to see them come down, but instead they seem to continue to pump the price up farther and farther. Maybe thats necessary in the long run, but not an immediate solution. Personally, I see so much cheap hydrogen out there that only emits water when burned, and I wonder why we aren't pshing harder in that direction.