Automaker General Motors and scooter manufacturer Segway Inc. make two-wheeled electric car

[ericlp]

http://www.nydailynews.com/mon...s_and_scooter_man.html

Well, it's a bold move. Is this where they are SPENDING all of our tax payer's money? Would you pay 6-10 Grand for one of these? Personally I wouldn't buy one unless it was in the 3-4K range. Only goes 35 mph with maybe a 35 mile range. I can buy a 150CC scooter that gets 80MPG and can carry 2 people for 2500 bucks and will go at least 55MPH.

It's a nice concept but after someone gets SPLATTERED all over the pavement after getting hit I think a lot of people will think twice about buying one. Even tho in the pic the thing is going down a side walk. It would have to be a pretty big side walk for 2 seater to get around other pedestrians.

It's a nice idea but I think they should of came out with a car that could battle a Toyota prius for half the cost -- an affordable hybrid. Then maybe develop this in a later stage if GM ever got back on it's feet again.

---Good Luck!

 

[TruePaige]

Originally posted by: ericlp
http://www.nydailynews.com/mon...s_and_scooter_man.html

Well, it's a bold move. Is this where they are SPENDING all of our tax payer's money? Would you pay 6-10 Grand for one of these? Personally I wouldn't buy one unless it was in the 3-4K range. Only goes 35 mph with maybe a 35 mile range. I can buy a 150CC scooter that gets 80MPG and can carry 2 people for 2500 bucks and will go at least 55MPH.

It's a nice concept but after someone gets SPLATTERED all over the pavement after getting hit I think a lot of people will think twice about buying one. Even tho in the pic the thing is going down a side walk. It would have to be a pretty big side walk for 2 seater to get around other pedestrians.

It's a nice idea but I think they should of came out with a car that could battle a Toyota prius for half the cost -- an affordable hybrid. Then maybe develop this in a later stage if GM ever got back on it's feet again.

---Good Luck!

The prius is horribly cost ineffective. You could do much better with a conventional car. Not to mention the cost to replace those batteries when they fail, and the fact that most Americans live in suburbs where they features such as regenerative braking are of little to no use.


But I digress, yeah, this is a dumb concept vehicle.

 

[TechBoyJK]

Originally posted by: TruePaige

Originally posted by: ericlp
http://www.nydailynews.com/mon...s_and_scooter_man.html

Well, it's a bold move. Is this where they are SPENDING all of our tax payer's money? Would you pay 6-10 Grand for one of these? Personally I wouldn't buy one unless it was in the 3-4K range. Only goes 35 mph with maybe a 35 mile range. I can buy a 150CC scooter that gets 80MPG and can carry 2 people for 2500 bucks and will go at least 55MPH.

It's a nice concept but after someone gets SPLATTERED all over the pavement after getting hit I think a lot of people will think twice about buying one. Even tho in the pic the thing is going down a side walk. It would have to be a pretty big side walk for 2 seater to get around other pedestrians.

It's a nice idea but I think they should of came out with a car that could battle a Toyota prius for half the cost -- an affordable hybrid. Then maybe develop this in a later stage if GM ever got back on it's feet again.

---Good Luck!

The prius is horribly cost ineffective. You could do much better with a conventional car. Not to mention the cost to replace those batteries when they fail, and the fact that most Americans live in suburbs where they features such as regenerative braking are of little to no use.


But I digress, yeah, this is a dumb concept vehicle.

yea, i'd rather just drive a golf cart around on the sidewalk

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

The point is to create concept vehicles which may have some value. From doing something different you can learn new things and then go from there.

From a commuter standpoint, these wouldn't work, but having lived the Boston area for many years, I can see how such a vehicle using dedicated lanes would dramatically cut traffic problems. Considering how many unknown thousands of gallons of fuel are wasted daily just waiting for traffic to move would make this cost effective.

Regarding a half price Prius, it's possible if you largely use Unobtainium. Right now that's what it would take, and why is that the best approach anyway? Right now I think we need an injection of novelty rather than reinventing an old wheel which is a bit shinier.

 

[dawp]

for driving around town, it probably isn't too bad. top speed 35, range 35. not like you'd use it for a road trip, except as transport when ya get there.

 

[Thump553]

Originally posted by: TruePaige

The prius is horribly cost ineffective. You could do much better with a conventional car. Not to mention the cost to replace those batteries when they fail, and the fact that most Americans live in suburbs where they features such as regenerative braking are of little to no use.


But I digress, yeah, this is a dumb concept vehicle.

As the owner of a Prius, I can wholeheartedly confirm there is not the slightest factual basis behind your opinion. We suburbanites never step on the brakes? Nonsense. Horribly cost ineffective-my real life experience must be meaningless then (no sales tax more than outweighed the supposed hybrid premium). Replace batteries? Never been done in the history of the dealership I went to on ANY Prius (as confirmed to me by a friend who is a mechanic there). The salesman told me that no dealership in my state has ever replaced any Prius battery-but that is something I can't confirm. In any event, there is an eight year warranty on them.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Originally posted by: dawp
for driving around town, it probably isn't too bad. top speed 35, range 35. not like you'd use it for a road trip, except as transport when ya get there.

Commuters dream of being able to go that fast in the city proper.

 

[TruePaige]

Originally posted by: Thump553

Originally posted by: TruePaige

The prius is horribly cost ineffective. You could do much better with a conventional car. Not to mention the cost to replace those batteries when they fail, and the fact that most Americans live in suburbs where they features such as regenerative braking are of little to no use.


But I digress, yeah, this is a dumb concept vehicle.

As the owner of a Prius, I can wholeheartedly confirm there is not the slightest factual basis behind your opinion. We suburbanites never step on the brakes? Nonsense. Horribly cost ineffective-my real life experience must be meaningless then (no sales tax more than outweighed the supposed hybrid premium). Replace batteries? Never been done in the history of the dealership I went to on ANY Prius (as confirmed to me by a friend who is a mechanic there). The salesman told me that no dealership in my state has ever replaced any Prius battery-but that is something I can't confirm. In any event, there is an eight year warranty on them.

The Prius has a battery warranty for a reason, ever consider it? Sure the batteries might not completely fail for 10 years, but over time they have a slow degredation still, which eats into any savings.

The Prius is also more than comparable automobiles without the hybrid drive train, and it will take you ages (if you ever do) to recover the premium you paid to get that extra bunch of MPG's.

I did not say that suburbanites never step on the brake, but most of the recharging on a prius is done through breaking, if you have to ride the highway each day to work with next to no braking, it doesn't help you much, look at the estimates for MPG and how widely it varies for highway and city, it's obvious.

 

[JSt0rm]

Originally posted by: TruePaige

The Prius has a battery warranty for a reason, ever consider it? Sure the batteries might not completely fail for 10 years, but over time they have a slow degredation still, which eats into any savings.

The prius has a warranty so owners can feel confident in the face of some toolbag saying the battery will need to be replaced. 8 years dude. 8 years.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Originally posted by: JSt0rm01

Originally posted by: TruePaige

The Prius has a battery warranty for a reason, ever consider it? Sure the batteries might not completely fail for 10 years, but over time they have a slow degredation still, which eats into any savings.

The prius has a warranty so owners can feel confident in the face of some toolbag saying the battery will need to be replaced. 8 years dude. 8 years.

That and consider that cars have warranties on conventional drive trains, most of which aren't as good.

So yes, it will eventually have to be replaced, however everything wears out.

 

[smashp]

Originally posted by: TruePaige

Originally posted by: Thump553

Originally posted by: TruePaige

The prius is horribly cost ineffective. You could do much better with a conventional car. Not to mention the cost to replace those batteries when they fail, and the fact that most Americans live in suburbs where they features such as regenerative braking are of little to no use.


But I digress, yeah, this is a dumb concept vehicle.

As the owner of a Prius, I can wholeheartedly confirm there is not the slightest factual basis behind your opinion. We suburbanites never step on the brakes? Nonsense. Horribly cost ineffective-my real life experience must be meaningless then (no sales tax more than outweighed the supposed hybrid premium). Replace batteries? Never been done in the history of the dealership I went to on ANY Prius (as confirmed to me by a friend who is a mechanic there). The salesman told me that no dealership in my state has ever replaced any Prius battery-but that is something I can't confirm. In any event, there is an eight year warranty on them.

The Prius has a battery warranty for a reason, ever consider it? Sure the batteries might not completely fail for 10 years, but over time they have a slow degredation still, which eats into any savings.

The Prius is also more than comparable automobiles without the hybrid drive train, and it will take you ages (if you ever do) to recover the premium you paid to get that extra bunch of MPG's.

I did not say that suburbanites never step on the brake, but most of the recharging on a prius is done through breaking, if you have to ride the highway each day to work with next to no braking, it doesn't help you much, look at the estimates for MPG and how widely it varies for highway and city, it's obvious.

All car Drive trains have warranties on them, Ever consider it


My co-worker has a Prius that is 5 years old and has 175,000 miles on it and he has not had one major problem with it.

I had 2 GM vehicles drop their transmissions at 125,000 miles....no more for me there.

right now when Gas is back down around $2 a gallon, the benefit isn't as much as it was when it was around $5




Go ahead and search the Interwebs and find a pattern of these epic HV battery failures and post some proff backing your FUD

 

[Genx87]

This is what the obama team wanted out of detroit. Now do you think these will sell compared to SUVs and Trucks?

 

[smashp]

Originally posted by: Genx87
This is what the obama team wanted out of detroit. Now do you think these will sell compared to SUVs and Trucks?

Wow, So your telling me that since Obama "took over" Gm 2 weeks ago they have already moved a product to market that quickly?

That is incredible......

shouldnt be long unitl we see that Pelosi GTxi SS/RT Sport Edition

:roll:

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: smashp

Originally posted by: Genx87
This is what the obama team wanted out of detroit. Now do you think these will sell compared to SUVs and Trucks?

Wow, So your telling me that since Obama "took over" Gm 2 weeks ago they have already moved a product to market that quickly?

That is incredible......

shouldnt be long unitl we see that Pelosi GTxi SS/RT Sport Edition

:roll:

You think this hasnt been coming down the line from the govt for months? Either way this is exactly the type of eco friendly crap this administration wants from Detroit even when it is painfully obvious it doesnt sell.

 

[smashp]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: smashp

Originally posted by: Genx87
This is what the obama team wanted out of detroit. Now do you think these will sell compared to SUVs and Trucks?

Wow, So your telling me that since Obama "took over" Gm 2 weeks ago they have already moved a product to market that quickly?

That is incredible......

shouldnt be long unitl we see that Pelosi GTxi SS/RT Sport Edition

:roll:

You think this hasnt been coming down the line from the govt for months? Either way this is exactly the type of eco friendly crap this administration wants from Detroit even when it is painfully obvious it doesnt sell.

Months.... Huh

Since Jan 09 or earlier.......

I bet the R&D costs of this eco-green, enviro-friendly, earth loving, pot smoking, vegan scooter is what drove GM to such despair and caused them to lose their corporate focus and lose massive market share in the US........

 

[Budmantom]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: smashp

Originally posted by: Genx87
This is what the obama team wanted out of detroit. Now do you think these will sell compared to SUVs and Trucks?

Wow, So your telling me that since Obama "took over" Gm 2 weeks ago they have already moved a product to market that quickly?

That is incredible......

shouldnt be long unitl we see that Pelosi GTxi SS/RT Sport Edition

:roll:

You think this hasnt been coming down the line from the govt for months? Either way this is exactly the type of eco friendly crap this administration wants from Detroit even when it is painfully obvious it doesnt sell.

This is the type of POS that the Obama administration has been asking for, now they have Obama motors there is no better time.

 

[TruePaige]

Originally posted by: smashp

Originally posted by: TruePaige

Originally posted by: Thump553

Originally posted by: TruePaige

The prius is horribly cost ineffective. You could do much better with a conventional car. Not to mention the cost to replace those batteries when they fail, and the fact that most Americans live in suburbs where they features such as regenerative braking are of little to no use.


But I digress, yeah, this is a dumb concept vehicle.

As the owner of a Prius, I can wholeheartedly confirm there is not the slightest factual basis behind your opinion. We suburbanites never step on the brakes? Nonsense. Horribly cost ineffective-my real life experience must be meaningless then (no sales tax more than outweighed the supposed hybrid premium). Replace batteries? Never been done in the history of the dealership I went to on ANY Prius (as confirmed to me by a friend who is a mechanic there). The salesman told me that no dealership in my state has ever replaced any Prius battery-but that is something I can't confirm. In any event, there is an eight year warranty on them.

The Prius has a battery warranty for a reason, ever consider it? Sure the batteries might not completely fail for 10 years, but over time they have a slow degredation still, which eats into any savings.

The Prius is also more than comparable automobiles without the hybrid drive train, and it will take you ages (if you ever do) to recover the premium you paid to get that extra bunch of MPG's.

I did not say that suburbanites never step on the brake, but most of the recharging on a prius is done through breaking, if you have to ride the highway each day to work with next to no braking, it doesn't help you much, look at the estimates for MPG and how widely it varies for highway and city, it's obvious.

All car Drive trains have warranties on them, Ever consider it


My co-worker has a Prius that is 5 years old and has 175,000 miles on it and he has not had one major problem with it.

I had 2 GM vehicles drop their transmissions at 125,000 miles....no more for me there.

right now when Gas is back down around $2 a gallon, the benefit isn't as much as it was when it was around $5




Go ahead and search the Interwebs and find a pattern of these epic HV battery failures and post some proff backing your FUD

Who DOESN'T know that battery capacity goes down over time? It's the reason when your laptop is new the battery lasts the entire charge, and 3 years after it barely holds a charge. The Prius just has slower battery degradation. You don't have to completely fail to degrade.

Also, you conveniently ignored the point that if you do a lot of highway driving the Prius is a horrible waste.

While the prius has by far the best break even point compared to a gas vehicle at 4.2 years (15,000 miles a year, gas at 2.91 a gallon, including all rebates and federal credits). It still makes you worse off if you keep the car less than that amount of time and 4.2 years is generous if you claim every possible benefit and if gas cost nearly $3.00 a gallon.

Every other hybrid is even worse, and they are all pretty much stupid buys.
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/...es/116513/article.html

With current gas prices it would take me over 5 1/2 years to recoup my initial investment in a prius. Oh, and if you have problems with those electrical systems that not many mechanics know a whole lot about repairing yet, I hope you enjoy your bill.

I guess that's the premium for driving a "trendy" car.

 

[smashp]

Originally posted by: Budmantom

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: smashp

Originally posted by: Genx87
This is what the obama team wanted out of detroit. Now do you think these will sell compared to SUVs and Trucks?

Wow, So your telling me that since Obama "took over" Gm 2 weeks ago they have already moved a product to market that quickly?

That is incredible......

shouldnt be long unitl we see that Pelosi GTxi SS/RT Sport Edition

:roll:

You think this hasnt been coming down the line from the govt for months? Either way this is exactly the type of eco friendly crap this administration wants from Detroit even when it is painfully obvious it doesnt sell.

This is the type of POS that the Obama administration has been asking for, now they have Obama motors there is no better time.

when you two finish, which one gets to eat the cracker

 

[Red Dawn]

I'd rather drive a Motorcycle as that thing looks unsafe and doesn't have the power to get out of harms way. You can get a new Japanese Harley Knockoff for about that price.

 

[halik]

WHY is $6G worth of stabilization technology better than $10 third wheel????

This thing will be as useless as segways, chiefly because it's solving a problem that no one has ever had. You can build an identical vehicle with 3 wheels for 80% cheaper.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: smashp


when you two finish, which one gets to eat the cracker

Not sure what the proper etiquette is anymore. What do you typically do?

 

[Budmantom]

Originally posted by: smashp

Originally posted by: Budmantom

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: smashp

Originally posted by: Genx87
This is what the obama team wanted out of detroit. Now do you think these will sell compared to SUVs and Trucks?

Wow, So your telling me that since Obama "took over" Gm 2 weeks ago they have already moved a product to market that quickly?

That is incredible......

shouldnt be long unitl we see that Pelosi GTxi SS/RT Sport Edition

:roll:

You think this hasnt been coming down the line from the govt for months? Either way this is exactly the type of eco friendly crap this administration wants from Detroit even when it is painfully obvious it doesnt sell.

This is the type of POS that the Obama administration has been asking for, now they have Obama motors there is no better time.

when you two finish, which one gets to eat the cracker

We can share the cracker but will you share your kool-aid?

 

[MovingTarget]

Well, keep in mind that this is just a prototype. Sometimes you need oddball thinking like this to spur innovation. Just because it is from an automotive company doesn't mean that it is for everyday commuting use back and forth between suburbs. I see this as a 'vehicle' for use in areas that cars either can't access, or are complete overkill. This could be useful for large warehouses or commercial industrial complexes/campuses, areas where the a segway-type vehicle does wonders.

Of course, you would always have a market for these things in city centers where traffic is either at a standstill or *gasp* a city that bans motor vehicles as we currently think of them. Some city centers would be served quite well by going pedestrian-only w/ some light electric vehicle transport.

 

[smashp]

Originally posted by: TruePaige

Originally posted by: smashp

Originally posted by: TruePaige

Originally posted by: Thump553

Originally posted by: TruePaige

The prius is horribly cost ineffective. You could do much better with a conventional car. Not to mention the cost to replace those batteries when they fail, and the fact that most Americans live in suburbs where they features such as regenerative braking are of little to no use.


But I digress, yeah, this is a dumb concept vehicle.

As the owner of a Prius, I can wholeheartedly confirm there is not the slightest factual basis behind your opinion. We suburbanites never step on the brakes? Nonsense. Horribly cost ineffective-my real life experience must be meaningless then (no sales tax more than outweighed the supposed hybrid premium). Replace batteries? Never been done in the history of the dealership I went to on ANY Prius (as confirmed to me by a friend who is a mechanic there). The salesman told me that no dealership in my state has ever replaced any Prius battery-but that is something I can't confirm. In any event, there is an eight year warranty on them.

The Prius has a battery warranty for a reason, ever consider it? Sure the batteries might not completely fail for 10 years, but over time they have a slow degredation still, which eats into any savings.

The Prius is also more than comparable automobiles without the hybrid drive train, and it will take you ages (if you ever do) to recover the premium you paid to get that extra bunch of MPG's.

I did not say that suburbanites never step on the brake, but most of the recharging on a prius is done through breaking, if you have to ride the highway each day to work with next to no braking, it doesn't help you much, look at the estimates for MPG and how widely it varies for highway and city, it's obvious.

All car Drive trains have warranties on them, Ever consider it


My co-worker has a Prius that is 5 years old and has 175,000 miles on it and he has not had one major problem with it.

I had 2 GM vehicles drop their transmissions at 125,000 miles....no more for me there.

right now when Gas is back down around $2 a gallon, the benefit isn't as much as it was when it was around $5




Go ahead and search the Interwebs and find a pattern of these epic HV battery failures and post some proff backing your FUD

Who DOESN'T know that battery capacity goes down over time? It's the reason when your laptop is new the battery lasts the entire charge, and 3 years after it barely holds a charge. The Prius just has slower battery degradation. You don't have to completely fail to degrade.

Also, you conveniently ignored the point that if you do a lot of highway driving the Prius is a horrible waste.

While the prius has by far the best break even point compared to a gas vehicle at 4.2 years (15,000 miles a year, gas at 2.91 a gallon, including all rebates and federal credits). It still makes you worse off if you keep the car less than that amount of time and 4.2 years is generous if you claim every possible benefit and if gas cost nearly $3.00 a gallon.

Every other hybrid is even worse, and they are all pretty much stupid buys.
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/...es/116513/article.html

With current gas prices it would take me over 5 1/2 years to recoup my initial investment in a prius. Oh, and if you have problems with those electrical systems that not many mechanics know a whole lot about repairing yet, I hope you enjoy your bill.

I guess that's the premium for driving a "trendy" car.

And u should know, that a notebook battery is a completely different technology that is what is in these cars. They are NiMH with and advanced Coputer contolling the charging and cycling of the Battery

"The Prius has a computer that?s solely dedicated to keeping the Prius battery at the optimum temperature and optimum charge level. Both these functions maintain the long life of the battery. Toyota have lab data showing the Prius battery can do 180,000 miles (290,000km) of normal driving with absolutely no degradation of the battery?s performance. This long life is largely due to the computers control of the Battery pack."

Toyota Prius II Battery Pack

First Numbers on Hybrid Battery Failure

"With more than 100,000 Honda hybrids on the road, the automaker told Newsweek that fewer than 200 had a battery fail after the warranty expired. That?s a 0.002 likelihood. Toyota says its out-of-warranty battery replacement rate is 0.003 percent?or one out of 40,000 Priuses?for the second generation Prius. Based on this rate, and the fact that very few of the second-generation Priuses have been driven beyond the warranty period, perhaps fewer than a dozen have had battery failures after the warranty expired. Replacement rates for the first generation Prius was closer to 1 percent.

Most hybrid-producing automakers offer a warranty on hybrid components for the first 100,000 miles. In California and other states using California?s stricter emissions laws, the warranty is extended to 150,000 miles.

The next logical question is the replacement cost, which has been very difficult to determine?but the numbers are in. The cost of a new Honda hybrid battery pack ranges from $2,000 to $2,500 depending on the model. Toyota currently sells a Prius pack for about $3,000. Installation costs are approximately $900, according to the Newsweek article. Both companies plan to substantially reduce the cost of the replacement packs, as they reach economies of scale on battery production."

 

[smashp]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: smashp


when you two finish, which one gets to eat the cracker

Not sure what the proper etiquette is anymore. What do you typically do?

Stay out of the Circle