General Motors and Segway advance green utopia

[longeyes]

Who knew GM would get into the rickshaw business while China and India were getting into the car business?

Life is fascinating, especially in the New America.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10213863-54.html

[Standing Wolf]

Who knew GM would get into the rickshaw business while China and India were getting into the car business?

Frightfully well said, longeyes! Thanks, eh?

[ilbob]

In an urban area, these might not be such a bad idea. The problem is a lot of people live more than 35 mile round trip from work. And we all know that the stated 35 mile range of the thing is going to end up being more like 20 miles in the real world.

[longeyes]

Why develop high-tech lawnmotor engines when we have so much "excess labor" that can be, well, harnessed?

[Tim L]

In an urban area, these might not be such a bad idea. The problem is a lot of people live more than 35 mile round trip from work. And we all know that the stated 35 mile range of the thing is going to end up being more like 20 miles in the real world.

The range will probably be closer to 5 miles when the owners get through adding the stereo, air conditioners, GPS's, DVD players, 22" rims.....

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

In an urban area, these might not be such a bad idea. The problem is a lot of people live more than 35 mile round trip from work. And we all know that the stated 35 mile range of the thing is going to end up being more like 20 miles in the real world.

I'm hoping that this is just a dog-and-pony show for Obama, and not something GM is seriously considering. GM should get into the motorcycle racket and paint that as 'going green.' They generally have good gas mileage, are easy to park, and have enough range to get you to work, to lunch, and back home again without worrying if you'll have enough charge to make it home.

[Jamisjockey]

The ultimate green vehicle has already been invented.

[MechAg94]

In the relatively small town I live in, you can get where you want to go at 35 MPH without getting run over.  However, of all the places I lived in Houston I can't remember a single one where anyone drove 35 MPH.  If you weren't going 45, you weren't keeping up at all.  That was true at least on all the main roads off the highways.  Back inside neighborhoods you could go that slow, but no where else.  

I noticed that is "up to" 35 MPH.  Not sure if that is sustained.

Is there even enough room in that thing for a brief case or computer bag?  Not with two people. 

[Jamisjockey]

In the relatively small town I live in, you can get where you want to go at 35 MPH without getting run over.  However, of all the places I lived in Houston I can't remember a single one where anyone drove 35 MPH.  If you weren't going 45, you weren't keeping up at all.  That was true at least on all the main roads off the highways.  Back inside neighborhoods you could go that slow, but no where else.  

Is there even enough room in that thing for a brief case or computer bag?

Most cities and towns have ignored light transportation, that's why.  For any "Green" light transportation to be useful on a large scale, entire city infrastructures will need to be rebuilt. 
Some cities have copius bike paths, bike lanes, and large sidewalks where many people use light transporation already, and that dinky little piece of crap would fit in nicely.  For the most part, its literally a case of putting the cart before the horse.

[longeyes]

I'm hoping that this is just a dog-and-pony show for Obama, and not something GM is seriously considering. GM should get into the motorcycle racket and paint that as 'going green.' They generally have good gas mileage, are easy to park, and have enough range to get you to work, to lunch, and back home again without worrying if you'll have enough charge to make it home.

Yes, but motorcycles promote individualism, and that's baaaaaad--didn't you see Easy Rider?

I think they are envisioning these things being run by some top-down network with GPS capabilities--cool, we will all have those chips installed in our behinds--so we can live in a perfect utopian beehive.

[Gewehr98]

They have to be installed in your behind.

The signals can't get through the tinfoil helmets. 

[MicroBalrog]

In some countries they issue RFID-chipped cards to be used as mass-transit tickets, that record every individual ride you take.

[DittoHead]

That over sized wheel chair as well as the occupants would be utterly destroyed in an accident with even an average sized car. If their plan to become financially viable involves more products that will be bought only by the green fringe then GM is as good as dead.

[makattak]

That over sized wheel chair as well as the occupants would be utterly destroyed in an accident with even an average sized car. If their plan to become financially viable involves more products that will be bought only by the green fringe then GM is as good as dead.

That was exactly what I thought when Obama started making demands on GM.

"They're going to force them to make "green" cars that no one will want to drive. GM will then fail unless the government forces us to purchase their products."

The second part of that statement is what scares me.

[zahc]

"Imagine small, nimble electric vehicles that know where other moving objects are and avoid running into them."

Imagine people walking, or riding bicycles, that can see other moving objects and avoid running into them.

[Declaration Day]

Nobody is going to want that covered dual wheelchair.  What a complete waste of development money.  The Segway it's based on was supposed to be a huge breakthrough in personal transportation.  I have yet to see one, anywhere.

Oh, and here's a crash course in environmentalism:

This is not "green": 
 

This is: 
 

[HankB]

Let's see . . . GM (with cars people won't buy) is teaming up with Segway (makers of hideously expensive electric scooters only government will buy) to come up with . . . a phone booth or porta-potty with wheels?  

OK, OK, yes, people do buy GM cars and trucks - but not enough to make the company viable. And some Segways have been sold to private parties, but most are in the hands of governments, mall cops, etc. because of the stratospheric price.

But if THIS nonsense is the future of GM . . . let's shut the doors now and cut our losses.

[ilbob]

The Segway it's based on was supposed to be a huge breakthrough in personal transportation.  I have yet to see one, anywhere.

I saw one at the VA hospital. The VA cops had them. I was talking with one of them and he really liked it. It was standing there next to him upright but not moving. Like some kind of zombie.

I gather some postal carriers have them as well in lieu of some other vehicle for routes that have heavy loads.

I don't think there are any significant number of commuters using them.

[Gewehr98]

Hank, there are two GM vehicles in my driveway, and another in my garage.

How big a paint brush do you really intend to use in your analogy?   :|

(IOW, people aren't buying new cars, period, whether they're GM, Ford, Chrysler, etc)

[Declaration Day]

Hank, there are two GM vehicles in my driveway, and another in my garage.

How big a paint brush do you really intend to use in your analogy?   :|

Perhaps he just needed to elaborate.  GM has come out with some very nicely designed, engineered, and built vehicles in the last few years.  They still have some lingering models that are dismal.  The problem is, that while GM may have finally gotten its act together, it may be too little, too late.

I prefer GM full size pickup trucks for their civility, driving dynamics and properly laid-out instrumentation, but my '05 Silverado has had waaay too many problems for a four year old vehicle, and the interior looks like it was molded by Playskool or Little Tykes.  I look forward to trading it in on one of their new generation trucks this year, which is immeasurably better.

[Gewehr98]

You take the good with the bad.

Hopefully the bad just plain disappears and goes away, like the butt-ugly Pontiac Aztec.

(Which I have honestly wanted to find a specimen of in good shape, a useful Edsel of sorts...)

I couldn't stand the Canyon/Colorado, oriental-looking front ends, crappy fuel mileage, blase' interior plastic, etc.  So I stayed with my '01 S-10 for a few years longer.

I just bought Wife #2 a new Jeep Liberty last year.  Cool vehicle, real frame, honest 4x4 underneath the cute exterior, and all that.  As for the Patriot and Compass?  You couldn't pay me to buy one of those. Chrysler needs a kick in the slats for dreaming those up.

Ford F-150s and larger ought to come in yellow, with big black "Tonka" stencils applied.  They're still relatively popular, so maybe that'll carry them through these tough times now that they've axed the Ranger series.

My "big" truck is the '53 Chevy 3/4 ton in the garage.  Heavy iron, as it were. 

All of the Detroit Big Three are having to undergo major gyrations to survive now.  Before it's over, one will be amazed at what deals, mergers, concessions, and just plain goofy stuff emerge from the mix.  Personally, I'd rather take chances on my Harley than ride around in that two-seat electric wheelchair pictured above.  At least I can out-maneuver a cager heading my way on the bike...

[Ryan in Maine]

Ford F-150s and larger ought to come in yellow, with big black "Tonka" stencils applied.  They're still relatively popular, so maybe that'll carry them through these tough times now that they've axed the Ranger series.

[Declaration Day]

^^^ The new F-150 is a really nice, refined vehicle.  I wish one would suit my needs.  I'll be buying a new truck this year, and it will be a Chevy or GMC 2500HD.  I would prefer it to be a Ford, since GM has arguably been nationalized and Ford is really the only private US automaker now. 

Unfortunately, that crude, oversized, ergonomically defunct, lumbering dinosaur known as the F Sooper Doody is what I would need.   I'm not spending $34,000 on something I loathe. 

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Hank, there are two GM vehicles in my driveway, and another in my garage.

How big a paint brush do you really intend to use in your analogy?   :|

(IOW, people aren't buying new cars, period, whether they're GM, Ford, Chrysler, etc)

Don't jump on the man for speaking the truth.  Hank is exactly right about people aren't buying enough GM's to keep the company viable.  This trend is only going to worsen with the direction GM is now headed in.

[Gewehr98]

And what does that mean for Chrysler, then?

People aren't buying enough of those vehicles to keep them in the black, either.

Ford was just smart enough not to ask for a handout while they scurry in the background...