The Last Mile

If you are reading this blog, you probably have an interest in battery-powered mobility and its advantages over more traditional vehicles. Some people are interested in the efficient use of natural resources, while others are passionate about relative emissions. There is no shortage of opinions, that is for sure.

We like electric for a lot of reasons. The right electric motor can give you excellent control at low speeds, and provide the torque required to keep a rider balanced, when needed. Performance advantages aside, the environmental benefits of electric seem obvious, but can be hard to quantify.

During the last year I worked with one of our engineers, John David Heinzmann, to quantify the increased efficiency and reduced emissions one might realize by replacing a single-passenger car journey with a Segway PT. JD has been with Segway since the beginning, and is one of our resident battery gurus. Together we wrote a white paper that covers both efficiency and emissions, which can be found here:

This was a fun, albeit sometimes tedious project. First we looked at the fairest way to make comparisons (we go back to the source fuel), and then we crunched the numbers. If this is a topic of interest to you, we invite you to read it and let us know what you think. I won’t spoil the ending, but the Segway PT fares pretty well…

- Michael

One of the best indicators of the growing demand for green transportation is changing strategies of the big auto makers.

What caught my eye is how General Motors is taking its plug-in hybrid to Congress in order to pass a more feasible fuel mandate. According to this post, Troy Clarke, the GM head of North American operations, explained why GM believes the long-term answer to energy independence is through biofuels and the electrification of the automobile, rather than spending tens of billions of dollars to meet four percent annual corporate average fuel efficiency. Nice!

On GM’s Fastlane Blog, they mention how most people drive less than 40 miles a day, meaning that if one day these people drove a Chevy Volt (currently just a concept) they would never have to buy gas at all. We’ve also found that according to EPA estimates, Americans take 900 million car journeys every day, half of these trips are less than five miles long with solo drivers. I also think it’s safe to say that for most of us, our driving consists of commuting to and from work, which for me, is less than 20 miles. What about about you? Do you drive less than 40 miles/64 km a day?

Fuel bills aside, another interesting report released by the Natural Resources Defense Council explains how the next generation of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) can help reduce global warming and slash oil dependency. But you already knew that right? Read on and it talks about how researchers at the Dept of Energy are studying materials that would reduce Li ion battery sensitivity to abuse conditions and extend battery life.

This is all promising news in the world of Segway PTs. For those of you who are interested in learning more about how we’re helping Segway PT owners off-setting the use of electric power with renewable energy sources see our site.

- Luis

Recently we added some video to our site, but you may not have noticed.

Below are some easy ways to watch the piece (3 parts), which is about community policing and the Segway PT in Bridgeport, Conn.

Enjoy!

If you’ve been to London lately and rode the Tube, you may have been tempted to get an Oyster card.

Instead of waiting in line at the ticket window or even using an automated ticket dispenser to pay for your fare, you wave a chip-embedded card that you can top off from the convenience of your anywhere/everywhere Internet connection.

It’s nothing new. Other cities such a New York and Chicago have similar cards that deduct your fare as you use them.

What we found interesting is from the story in the U.K.’s ETA about how London Transport is now realigning employees because of the decrease in need for ticket clerks.

“The success of Oyster has led to a huge reduction in the number of customers buying tickets at our stations. This has meant that we have already been able to shift station staff from behind the plate glass windows in ticket offices to the platforms and in ticket halls. By increasing the visibility of staff they will make the stations a safer place and will be able to fully assist customers.”

This mindset is also nothing new. Think automation of assembly lines or even the good ‘ol washing machine. Innovation drives productivity - what you do with this improvement is what defines successful organizations. In the case of London Transport, they’ve chosen to redistribute resources to help improve customer satisfaction in other needed areas.

We hear similar stories from our customers who are able to do more than they were able before as a result of using a Segway PT. Whether it’s being able to run an extra errand during the day, patrol areas more frequently than on foot, or simply have time to do his/her job more effectively, there’s a lot to be said about taking a risk on new technology to solve problems you didn’t necessarily seek to solve.

- Eric