Will The Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility (PUMA) Revolutionize Transportation?

GM sold themselves to the government as bailout-worthy on the grounds that they have the innovative capaccity to create new, smaller, and greener vehicles that will change everything.   It sounded a whole lot like the hubbub around the Segway nearly a decade ago, which was initially marketed as the most significant invention since the telephone, the Internet and sliced bread. That ludicrous promotion scheme was parodied to great effect by a South Park episode.

And now GM unveils its first new big idea since the bailout, and it's being designed in conjunction with... Segway.  It even has its own cute little name: the PUMA (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility.) Check out the story in the Wall Street Journal here.

For what it's worth, GM is already making the case that the PUMA will be different than the Segway because it has a higher top speed ( 35 for the PUMA versus 12.5 for the Segway) and because it has an enclosed compartment. The PUMA is also likely to be pricier: It will apparently cost one-fourth or one-third the price of a traditional vehicle, while the MSRP of a Segway is currently $2,400 to $7,500.