New York: GM-Segway PUMA: 2-wheeled urban concept

General Motors is collaborating with Segway, Inc. to develop a compact urban two-seat commuter and runabout. Dubbed the PUMA for Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility Project, the 2-passenger, 2-wheeler working concept was unveiled in Manhattan Tuesday in the run-up to the New York Auto Show.

Like the original Segway Personal Transporter (PT), the PUMA primarily drives and turns on two wheels but also is fitted with front and rear wheelie bars to assist in the bumps and grinds of everyday use in heavily congested environments.

Bedford, N.H.-based Segway is becoming a key player in lithium-ion battery development and manufacture. With GM's electric car programs volting along, the partnership of the automaker and the niche transportation company is a natural. The battery-powered PUMA has a top end for around 35mph and a range of 35 miles and can be charged in... well, 35 minutes. Okay, maybe.

The production version due for the public in mid-2010 will have proper body panels. Journalists will get a crack at the PUMA this fall.

The high-visibility project should play well with the federal administrators who will be judging the merits of GM's massive restructuring program. "The next two months, and really 2009, is all about the reinvention of General Motors," said Larry Burns, GM's vice president of research and development, and strategic planning.

Still in the skunk works - an active GPS network that would allow the PUMAs to drive themselves around, avoiding obstacles and other impediments. Frankly, we’d want an override button the size of a Buick hubcap.