It might not look much safer than the bicycles that thread through Manhattan traffic, but General Motors and the scooter maker Segway are expected to demonstrate Tuesday an experimental two-seat, two-wheel electric vehicle that they're promoting as a way to alleviate gridlock.
GM and Segway call the vehicle the PUMA, for "Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility" and it's similar in concept to "neighborhood electric vehicles" - glorified golf carts to the skeptical - that are street-legal but are smaller and more energy-efficient than conventional cars. Makers like Chrysler's Global Electric Motorcar or GEM unit promote them for dense urban environments or gated suburban communities and college campuses.
"It's a step up from a bicycle or electric bike, and a step down from a car," said Chris Birroni-Bird, General Motors director of advanced vehicle concepts. "We think it's a sweet spot."
Would you buy the two-seat, two-wheel electric vehicle?
Birroni-Bird said the companies plan further refinement of the concept, making the vehicle larger and equipping it ultimately with the ability to guide itself in special lanes and even park itself.
GM, apparently verging on having to seek bankruptcy court protection, is struggling to persuade the federal government to lend it more money as a company with a viable future in an era of rising energy prices. It sent Birroni-Bird and Larry Burns, the GM vice president for research and development, to New York Monday to join Segway chief executive Jim Norrod to demonstrate the PUMA Tuesday in Chelsea.
Segway Inc. of Bedford, N.H., started building its two-wheel "personal transporters" in 2002 and sells them through 250 retailers in 61 countries, according to its Web site. A company spokeswoman, Carol Valianti, said it has sold more than 50,000 units, including many to police departments for patrol.
