New Segway Electric Police Patroller is Nerdiest Cop Car Ever

Segway made a name for itself with self-balancing, two-wheeled scooters that could quickly get pedestrians around town with a minimal footprint. Despite the hype leading up its launch, it did not, as it turned out, “change the way we think of cities”. It did, however, change the way we think of mall cops – but the Segway’s success in the private security sector spawned a raft of 3 wheeled imitators that lacked the Segway’s high price, small footprint, and self-balancing style.

Now, the company is ready to fight back with the all-new electric Police Patroller …

… which looks exactly like the low-budget Segway imitators that it’s supposed to be competing against, then? What happened here?

Without coming out and saying that those 3 wheeled imitators had a better idea, Segway did say that its new “SE-3″ Patroller runs on multiple li-ion battery packs. Those can be charged from a standard, 110 outlet or “hot-swapped” for continuous operation. In addition, the Patroller features independent rear wheel motors, disc brakes, Whelen emergency lights and sirens, and an LED headlight. Data relating to the operation of the vehicle, such as speed and remaining battery life, can be viewed on a high-contrast, 4.3″ display. The Patroller also includes a number of officer safety features such as anti-rollover technology and Rider Detect, which disables the motors if a rider is not on the vehicle.

Unfortunately, the zero-style, $12,000 (yes, that says twelve thousand dollars) Segway Patroller will not feature technology that blurs out the police officer’s face while riding the thing, ensuring maximum embarrassment for the boys in blue.

Source | Images: Segway, via Gizmag.

RYNO Motors’ Crazy Electric Unicycle, the Interview

This is the single-wheel, single-seater electric RYNO commuter bike- and it is utterly, wonderfully insane. “It’s different. You have to make an emotional commitment, sign an ‘emotional contract’ to learn to ride it and be good at it,” says RYNO Motors’ CEO Chris Hoffman. “It’s like being a kite-boarder. It takes time, to figure it out, but you get better. Getting better is how you engaged with it. You need to embrace the learning curve as a way to interact with the RYNO, and getting to interact with the bike (on that level) is part of the appeal.”

I spoke to Chris about the RYNO last week. I’m not sure what I expected from the guy, but I was surprised to find a true enthusiast who was inspired to build the RYNO by one of his daughters’ Japanese anime movies. “She saw one of the characters riding something like this, and asked me if I could build something like that,” he explained. “The RYNO is the end result of that.”

For those of you not familiar with the RYNO, it’s basically a much cooler version of a Segway. It stays vertical, like a Segway, but it leans and counter-steers like a motorcycle. Unlike the Segway, however, the RYNO rider doesn’t tower over his/her fellow pedestrians. “You’re basically at normal height,” says Hoffman. “It has a much smaller presence. You can maneuver more easily with it, even take it on a bus or a train.”

I like the idea of getting the RYNO on a train, riding it into the city, then, commuting the rest of the way on the electric unicycle. Image and “convenience” wise, then, it’s definitely a step up from the Segway.

Now, what I’m about to say might seem nuts, but stay with me.

The RYNO is NOT Street Legal

That’s right, kids- despite the RYNO’s sporting looks and high-efficiency LED “headlamps”, Chris said the bike was not intended to be used as a street-legal motorcycle. It’s not even supposed to be ridden in a bike lane. Instead, the RYNO falls under that weird, Segway-occupied area of “personal transporter”, and is meant to be ridden on sidewalks.

I’m torn by this realization, as I feel that anything traveling 10 miles per hour (the top speed on the RYNO, by the way, is 12.5 MPH) has no business on sidewalks with the other humans walking at- what? 3? 4 MPH, if they’re really booking it to work? Besides that, people stop without brake lights, turn suddenly, walk around each other … the RYNO, and vehicles like the Segway, for that matter, have no place in that ecosystem.

I’m not sure where that leaves the RYNO, then. It’s exactly the kind of thing I’d spend stupid money on. If I can’t take it on the street, though? I guess you could make the argument that the RYNO would be a strong competitor to electric bicycles like the new Smart electric drive and Local Motors’ electric Cruiser, in terms of practicality- and you’d be right. The question you’d have to ask yourself, then, would be whether or not the image you portray with the RYNO vs. the image you portray with the Smart was worth the price bump.

I’ll probably still buy one, but I’d buy like, 6 of them if they were street legal at 25 MPH, you know? What do you guys think? Is the $4500 RYNO worth the price premium over the similarly capable, $2950 Smart- or would it be nuts to buy either one when $3000 would buy you a lot of classic motorcycle? Let us know how you feel about the RYNO in the comments, below.

Source: Gas 2, photos from RYNO Motors.

Vintage Vespa + Segway = Sexy Sidewalk Conveyance

With their high-tech balancing software and sensor arrays, easy-to-master learning curve, decent urban range, and almost-kinda-really too-high top speed, Segway scooters should be cool. They are, however, not cool- and I’m talking “probably not even the best thing about being a mall security guard” levels of not cool. What’s to be done? According to Spain’s Maxiscoot, everything that’s wrong with a Segway can be fixed by splicing in a little Vespa DNA.

If the name “Maxiscoot” sounds familiar, it’s because they’re the same bunch of brain-addled crackpots (they’d be cool with it) that built the MXS 90-based super-scooter racing engine that we featured earlier this month … and they’re serious about building these Vespa-bred sidewalk scooters.

Maxiscoot plans to sell the scooters for 2899 Euro, which works out to just under 4000 USD- which is a good deal cheaper than a for-real Segway. If, you know, you want that sort of thing.

Moving on, in addition to the “cool” factor, Maxiscoot’s fully electric scooter-styled scooter (!?) offers a high-intensity LED headlight that sips battery juice while hauling you about 20 miles per charge at a top speed of about 15 MPH. Those specs, too, are right in line with what I’d expect to get from something like a Segway i2.

What do you guys think- is this exactly the kind of re-style that will help the Segway connect with millenials and hipsters, or is this exactly the kind of thing that’s wrong with retro styling? Let us know what you think in the comments, below.

Source | Images: Maxiscoot, via Motorpasion.

General Motors and Segway to Partner on New Two Wheeled PUMA

The GM / Segway PUMA






This is pretty cool. Maybe not practical or ever a reality, yet very cool.

From WSJ:

GM is teaming with Segway Inc., maker of the upright, self-balancing scooters, to build a new type of two-wheeled vehicle designed to move easily through congested urban streets.

The machine, which GM says it aims to develop by 2012, would run on batteries and use wireless technology to avoid traffic backups and navigate cities.

The Project P.U.M.A. (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility) prototype is shown in Brooklyn April 4. GM and Segway say the vehicle could allow people to travel around cities more quickly, safely, quietly and cleanly, and at a lower total cost.

The struggling auto maker, surviving on a government lifeline, is looking to generate enthusiasm for its increasingly uncertain future ahead of the New York auto show this week.

GM has slashed product-development programs, advertising and spending on auto-show events. But it will take to the streets of Manhattan on Tuesday to show off a prototype of the vehicle, called PUMA, for Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility.

The Segway Personal Transporter was launched with considerable hype eight years ago but practical issues prevented the scooter from becoming a mass-market product, including its relatively high cost and restrictions on its use in many jurisdictions.

GM is betting PUMA's more car-like traits -- an enclosed compartment and top speed of 35 miles per hour -- will lead to better results. GM didn't say how much the machines would cost, but research chief Larry Burns said owners would spend one-third to one-fourth of the cost of a traditional vehicle.

PUMA would have a range of about 35 miles. GM said it aims to use so-called vehicle-to-vehicle technology to avoid traffic problems and potentially have it navigate itself through city streets.