Field of Science

PUMA commuter vehicle

The Phactor lives within easy walking distance of his workplace, and so do the majority of my neighbors, but only about 1 in 5 walk to work. Public transportation passes by both ends of our double block, and almost no one in our hood uses it. Clearly you don't need an SUV or van for our commutes, so this nifty little commuter vehicle, a GM-Segway hybrid called PUMA, which should be called Tumblebug (hmm, that may not be the best name; like Nova in Mexico), may actually prove rather practical for small urban use. It gets 35 miles to the charge and goes 35 miles an hour, so that tells you how close charging stations have to be. One charge would allow Mrs. Phactor to commute to and from her office for a week. A gasoline/electric hybrid would get 200 mpg. Funny, this is sort of an appealing little thing, even though it looks a bit like a dumpster with a transparent top, so watch out on trash pick up days. What jelly bean colors do you suppose it comes in? Seriously, don't you want one?

1 comment:

CelticRose said...

I'd hate to crash in one of those. Also, it looks very impractical for inclement weather. Doesn't look like one could carry anything, either. At least with the Segway one could wear a backpack.

So, no, don't want.