Introducing Project P.U.M.A.
Every once in awhile we have some exciting news to share and we’re happy to do so right here on The Last Mile.
We’re pleased to introduce you to the Project P.U.M.A. (Personal Urban Mobility & Accessibility) prototype. It’s a working concept of what’s possible when you put together smart minds with the goal of setting a new vision for the future of urban transportation. We’re making this announcement today in collaboration with General Motors Corp. in New York City in advance of the New York Auto Show.
Jim Norrod, CEO of Segway Inc. is here with us now and he had this to say:
“We are excited to be working together to demonstrate a dramatically different approach to urban mobility,” said Jim Norrod, CEO of Segway Inc. “There’s an emotional connection you get when using Segway products. The Project P.U.M.A. prototype embodies this completely through the combination of dynamic stabilization, seamless drive-by-wire controls, and sophisticated battery systems to complete the connection between the rider, environment, and others.”
Built off of the proven reliable and safe technology you find in Segway Personal Transporters (PTs), the prototype truly does expand upon the exhilarating riding experience. It increases capacity to two passengers in a seated position; capable of carrying them up to anywhere between 25 and 35 mph (40 – 56 kph) for anywhere between 25 and 35 miles (40 – 56 km) on a single charge.* It does so while taking advantage of the unparalleled maneuverability and advanced control you get through Segway’s use of dynamic stabilization (balancing technology). Add in know-how with large format lithium-ion batteries and you have something that’s zero emissions during operation – likely only costing about $.60 in electricity to recharge.
*It’s a prototype, which is why these high-end ranges vary so significantly.
Building upon transportation tech expertise
There are some things from Segway that make what we do truly unique. It’s not really like a kit of parts where we sprinkle a little tech here and a little there and end up with something that moves around. Instead, it’s a holistic approach – making sure that you smile whenever you try something from Segway.
Still, there are a few things that we inject in there that are worth calling out:
- Dynamic stabilization: The ability to balance on two wheels and have a true zero turning radius. It gives you incredible maneuverability.
- Electric propulsion: It’s extremely efficient and gives us significant fine control over vehicle dynamics. You also can use regenerative braking to charge back the batteries.
- Smart battery management: We’re one of the world’s largest customers of large format lithium-ion batteries. As such, we’ve become experts about the safe and efficient use of their chemistry.
- Drive-by-wire digital controls: Think about this whole thing as a digital solution to an analog problem. All steering inputs, acceleration, and deceleration are done with zeros and ones instead of levers, cables, and pads.
- Intuitive user interface: Shifting the center of mass of the vehicle controls how fast it goes and how quickly it stops. Check out the video to see it in action.
- Digital dashboard: Data from the vehicle such as speed, battery life, and other information can flow wireless to a handheld device wirelessly. Add in real-time traffic and other connectivity info. and you’ll be armed with enough information to sail through your commute.
This is what it could it look like someday if we were to continue development and spiff up the exterior:
We know you probably have a lot of questions. We’ve been hearing some of them from the great people we’ve run in to in New York over the past couple of days filming some of the video you saw above. Good news is we have some answers for you. Just head on over to www.segway.com/puma and check everything out. Video content will arrive after 10:00 a.m. today.
We’ll be updating The Last Mile a few times today with news throughout the day. We’re planning to be on NBC’s Today Show during the 7 a.m. Eastern hour (subject to change or not happen at all depending on the news of the day), so try and tune in if you can. For those on Twitter, be sure to follow @SegwayInc as we’ll be tweeting away with some behind the scenes shots/video/tid-bits as well.
If you’re a member of the media and require additional information, please visit the Project P.U.M.A. media center here. For inquiries, please e-mail media@segway.com or call +1-866-960-8575 and someone will get back to you.
Save This Page
42 Responses to “Introducing Project P.U.M.A.”
I’m so excited about Project PUMA I can barely contain myself. I feel like it’s back in the good ol’ days of Segway, when I would scour photos of Segway PTs looking for details, trying to figure things out by inferring how things would work, and so on.
I am so in love with Segway as a company. Thanks for being such a huge part of my life for the past 6 years. Nary a day goes by where I don’t use my Segway PT, and I look forward to the day that I get the opportunity to just SIT in a PUMA.
Thanks Segway; I hope that there’s a SegFest this year so that I might get the opportunity to talk with y’all in person about the challenges and creativity put into Project Puma.
<3,
Chris “Neelix” Knight
Awesome, when you will bring it to Europe ?
I WANT ONE!!!
Wonderful
Having just watched the video one has to admit that it’s impressive. The adjustments it makes when braking, or from start-up are incredible. There is some serious creativity and technology that went into this concept.
I would like to know what the “at home” setup would be? Could it be setup for people who live in apartments? In which lane do you drive this vehicle? It’s not quite a a car and it’s more than a bicycle.
The naysayers can “poo-poo” this idea but this is the kind of thinking and project that will end the dependence on fossil fuels as well as re-energize the automotive industry.
I can just imagine a day when cars are parked in a commuter lot … hop on a train to downtown … then get on a Segway parked at the station to go the “last mile” to my office building.
Wow … The future is now.
Keep thinking up great ideas.
Well, if P.U.M.A. is not going to be too expensive, it’ll be a huge hit.
And if it be available at Europe this year, I’ll stop to think about any other electric vehicle and put my hard earned money into it.
Nice work guys, i have a feeling you will be Very rich in the future
and when is segway centaur out for sale? i want one
A two-person, sit-down version, eh?
You had trouble finding a niche for the PT (remember your original name, ‘EPAMB’?); now you are going to find it challenging to find a niche for this one, too.
The name of this forum, “Last Mile,” might be the answer, if you look deeper at transportation to such concepts as speed layering, scale nesting, and vehicle sharing.
This vehicle is too ‘nichey’ to play a role in a world where each person is supposed to own their own ‘wheels.’
This would make it playing a role like the Velib bikes in Paris.
Chris Bradshaw
“car-lite” proponent
Ottawa
If you don’t mind some free advice:
(its worth every penny
Spend some time rethinking your business model. Don’t rely on selling PUMAs, at $8,000 to $12,000 each (my guess as to price). Instead become a transportation service / energy storage company. Use a “car share” model in which you have a large number of small electrified parking lots scattered all around a city, people sign up and pay per trip, with reservations, payment, and directions to nearest available PUMA all done by cell phone. This would make for a much lower barrier to usage for a new and different system like the PUMA. Also because during most of the day you large number of batteries attached to the grid you can potentially provide electrical load leveling services.
So pic a city, say Washington DC (its has a good public transit system, a high population density, lots of tourism, congested roads and very limited public parking, all good things if you are selling a transportation service) and put your first 10 -20,000 PUMAs in it.
Saftey??????? Not a chance these are allowed on NYC streets with our crazy cabbies.
Where is the safety?
I am really glad to see this. I prefer to get around by bicycle when I can, but I would much rather share the road with one of these than all the single passenger SUVs that are out there today. This is definitely a step in the right direction.
I work with 10,00 employees who earn between $37,0000 $650,00 dollars per year. We work at four sites across a small city outside of Toronto Ontario Canada, transportation between sites and parking ( $100.00 per month) is an issue if you can get it.
The city is hilly ( on the escarpment)and the average winter temperature is around -12 with snow . this would be a great city to test and sell this new from of transport ….
Looks sweet, I would love to see these flood our city streets. Just keep em off the sidewalks and out of the bike lanes if you’re doing more than 10mph.
I love this concept, and I especially like the name!
Brilliant idea! When is the commercial version available?
A Solar Cell/Roof would be nice.
What about general safety? I could just see these creating a gigantic pileup if say someone were to veer into the road with one, or maybe 300 in New York’s case. Not to be overly disgusted or anything, but this doesn’t seem like a viable option for transportation. Just fast enough to cause trouble, not fast enough to get you where you need to be on time. Moped theory. Just my two cents.
When will it go into commercial production and when do you intend to bring it to Asia (India and Middle East, specifically)
Why not use lithium titanate batteries ? Much faster charging. Who wants to charge batteries for hours on end ?
This is really huge.
Happy to see that smart brains are moving fast at Segway.
It’s always a delight to contemplate those wonderful ideas almost taking life before our eyes
We already have a two-wheeled, zero emissions urban transport device. It’s called a bicycle.
You have got to be kidding. This isn’t much more than a muscled-up wheelchair! I will never ride in one of these as long as I have to share the road with Hummers and 18-wheel trucks. If two people go shopping where do purchases go? This might be super snazzy as transportation around a campus, but never, EVER take it out on the streets. It might be an alternative to the “meter maid” carts. It would look really cute as a “black and white” with a light bar, etc.
How much cheaper will it be than a eSMART? I loved the basic idea of Segway having a vehicle that allows me as a person to drive on sidewalks and in parks. Where is the Segway “Lightweight” and the 999 USD Seggi? Stay on your roots! This concept here is nothing very really usefull – not save enough, no trunk and it does not look to me like a twin seater.
Wow, quite a concept. Would it be mostly suitable for urban streets or pedestrian ways. Great to see continued innovation in green motoring.
Have you considered the PUMA as a transport for the disabled? I am a stroke survivor and disabled. I would love to try and own one. A PUMA will allow me to get around my neighborhood quickly and easily. This is a better alternative to either a scooter or electric wheelchair and maybe a car for short distances. If there is a trial program for the prototype I would like to be part of such a program.
Could this be the future of urban transportation? A low-cost, lightweight, low-power, highly energy-efficient mode of transport that covers 90% of in-city trips?
Could it solve the twin problems of traffic congestion, and integration of larger-scale public transportation with heavily-travelled roads?
Here’s hoping the Segway PUMA doesn’t become vapourware, because it seems to have real potential. All it needs now is some means of keeping passengers cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and a bit of luggage-carrying capacity.
THIS IS A GREAT START TO THE LONG NEEDED OVERHAUL OF THE WORLDS CURRENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM. THE PUMA PROVIDES EFFICIENT/SAFE/GREEN TRANSPORTATION UNDER 35MPH BUT THE REST OF OUR TRANSPORTATION NEEDS (35MPH +) IS ALSO DESPERATELY IN NEED OF UPDATING. I CAN THINK OF MANY SYSTEMS THAT WOULD PROVIDE SIMILAR INCREASE IN EFFICIENCY/SAFETY FOR THE 35MPH + AREA INCLUDING A CLOSED COMPUTER CONTROLLED SYSTEM WITH FRICTIONLESS, LOW DRAG, ULTRA LIGHTWEIGHT DESIGNS AS AN EXAMPLE.
I’m guessing you will never publish this comment as the comments above seem to be corporate generated. All I can say on seeing this thing is: you’ve got to be kidding. You are so far behind Toyota it’s really kinda sad. I’m guessing you weren’t planning to debut but that GM wanted it to get their bailout? I liked the Segway when I tried it, lots of fun, even got my “driver’s license”. They seem to like them in France where Jerrry Lewis is a god.
Hi Dan, thanks for your comment. We encourage conversation on our posted topics by publishing comments that are insightful, present a different point of view, or otherwise enhance the experience. The other comments showing on the blog are from our readers. We post replies in response to our readers’ questions or to correct misinformation, but don’t generate comments under the false pretense of an audience member.
In regards to our relationship with GM, the collaboration began over 18 months ago (in advance of the bailout hearings) with the Opel Flextreme project and continues today with Project P.U.M.A. We’re pleased with our progress to date and plan to share updates in the coming months. We hope you stay tuned.
I own 2 GEM cars that I use in my business. The PUMA project is a perfect fit that is desperately needed. Neighborhood electric cars must be able to travel at 35 MPH to be useful. The existing law limits them to 25 MPHs. The government must get on the ball and update the motor vehicle laws to allow 35 MPHs vehicles. This will make electric vehicles practical. I can’t wait to buy a PUMA… what a design!
Just yesterday afternoon I was stopped on a downtown Indianapolis street and asked about my Segway I2. It was so refreshing to be able to allow the 3 guys a chance to try it and to tell them about the latest Segway/GM project. I couldn’t think of the name of it, so I came home and looked it up. In a couple of minutes, I’m heading out again and will let them know it’s called Project PUMA. I can hardly wait for my first PUMA date around town.
From FRANCE, I hope to get it one day and ride in 10 minutes to go to my job and see other people in car, bus, bikes…and get fun in same time with segway’s smile…wow wow wow
That is a Good name “P.U.M.A” for this project and Nice Models/Concept.
And When is Centaur & PUMA you can sale in Jakarta ? I want one.
I would be the first in line to buy a one seat version no larger than a standard power chair. That way I could use it on sidewalks and ride it into stores just like I do with my 4-mile an hour roofless power chair. This would be a god-send for those of us who can no longer drive cars and must rely on power chairs to get around. mNo one has improved on the standard power chair in decades and it would be so nice to see some one take our needs into consideration.
Segway FTW!!! Wow!! Imagine what it would look like travelling in one of those car-like segways!
Sounds great! Let me know when I can get one.
Nice concept, if pedelectric lanes (separated from the conventional vehicles) become reality. We’ll begin to redesign NYC, and all other Cs to make them compatible. DEKA with these concepts is at least 40 years ahead of its time.
I hope Dean lives to see the first compatible traffic management system with the eventual commercialized successor of PUMA. Good work, but still, like Tesla, solutions in hope of solving the problem
I got good experience. Thanks for given this news. Good Concept!
THIS IS AWESOME! How muck will it cost and when will it be available in Arab countries?
Is a driver’s liscense needed for it.
Thanks for your support of Project P.U.M.A. We’re still in the development phase, so anticipated cost and availability are estimates at this point. Official numbers and timelines have not officially been disclosed. We’ll be sure to post that information here if and when that does happen.
In regards to needing a driver’s license to operate the prototype, that also remains to be determined. We’ll continue to work with municipalities and urban organizations to explore pilot programs, which will involve identifying (or creating) laws that speak to this type of transportation product. As is the case with the Segway PT, the rules of operation will likely be subject to corresponding local regulations where it’s in operation.
This electronic vehicle will be truly effective in countries which are highly populated but are poor, it would be affordable for folks and would help to get rid of pollution.
Leave a Reply