I did a little math from a recent electric bill of ours here in west central Florida, and 1 KW-Hr works out to about 11¢, including fuel costs and taxes.

Of course we have to amortize the cost of the Segway PT batteries, but if they last about three years, that’s still pretty low cost.

Any determinations yet for the Li-ion batteries’ life span? You used to say 500 full charge cycles for the NiMH’s. Are the new ones’ lives longer or shorter?

You know, I actually wouldn’t be so disappointed to hear that it was shorter, as the Li-ions actually make the machine viable for our current needs, where the gen 1 machines weren’t. This is due not only to the nominal 20-miles per charge range, but also to their increased power flow characteristics.

We live at the bottom of a medium steep hill, and our gen 1 machine would rather easily go into reduced performance mode while climbing, where our new i2 zips up the grade eagerly with no “complaints.”

We tried to strike a balance between technical depth and readability. It’s naturally going to be too much for some, not enough for others. We wanted to give Segway PT owners some real data to explain the benefits, as well as inform those who are not currently owners.

We’ve made the white paper available to our dealers and I know there are some great salespeople who are using the data in their product presentations.

As for the horse, I’ll need to know what it eats (and the processes by which that food is produced and transported to the stable) on a daily basis as well as its range, in addition to all of the emissions data.

But then, you’ve already sold me, as I already own a PT.

I’m concerned that not too many prospective customers will be reading it. Have you considered printing some up and having it available at Segway dealerships and Authorized Segway tours?

Not that it will help sales all by itself, but in the hands of a good salesman it could be a useful tool to easily and accurately answer questions about the economics of PT use.

All volunteer organizations are exciting, but fall victim to people with good intentions and the wrong skill set to organize and manage groups of all sorts, local, regional, national, international.

I believe that the manufacturer has professionals with the organizational skills, and will take advise from their enthusiast members, for a great mix of resourses for the goals and ideals of SEG America to proceed to the next phase…

I smell fun just around the corner!

This seems to be an attestation to the peculiar power of the Segway PT’s “proof of concept”, in which it has somehow weathered the “slings and arrows of outrageous hype” to emerge with its enduring solid and unique attributes not only unscathed but rather dramatically enhanced in the “gen 2″ machines.

If some some of us “early adopters” deserve some of the credit for inspiring this new corporate interest in the PT, then perhaps now some of this “corps” of employees whose job descriptions include “Segway gliding” will in turn inspire many more “civilians” to give gliding a try.