The Future of Transportation: Segway's Creation

Released at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, the EN-V concept vehicles were met with much excitement. As you can see from the picture, the concept models come in a couple varied designs, for purposes of consumer appeal. Each design, though, has the same amazing features, a result of the collaboration between Segway, General Motors, and SAIC. These vehicles are powered by the Segway-developed chassis (framework combining electronics, sensors, motors, and wheels) and electric drivetrain, giving them similar workings as the Segway PT covered in my last post. The EN-V, in comparison to the Segway PT, has "more power, more range, more speed, more payload, more autonomous capabilities, and interconnectivity." Allow me to explain how this is possible.

The EN-V is a multi-passenger transport system, conforming to the dynamics and controls that fit the driver's preferences, that makes a technological leap by linking the chassis to the battery house that contains the equivalent of 8 PT batteries; this vehicle is about 5 times more energy efficient than the average car. This chassis-drivetrain linkage allows for the vehicle to autonomously power itself from its its parked state by simply shifting its center of mass; once powered on, it can move autonomously, be driven manually, or move via a combination of the two due to its many sensors. The EN-V, like the Segway PT, is able to turn on a dime, allowing for tight operations and easy-as-it-gets parking.

But wait, there's more! The EN-V will have so many features, you may not be able to contain your excitement! No more losing your car in a crowded parking building! Because the EN-V can power itself on just from sensing a signal, has a built in GPS, and comes packed with sensors, with a click of a button, one's EN-V could navigate through a crowd/obstacles on its own and find you. Who else hates god awful traffic? Did you know that on top of making people extremely irritable, traffic exponentially increases the amount of pollution created due to longer car usage? Well, the EN-V will stop all that because traffic will be a thing of the past; EN-Vs will be able to "talk" to one another, meaning slow human reaction time will no longer cause crashes, traffic, or any problems really. The EN-Vs will be able to link up and travel closely in designated lanes to similar destinations. On top of that, thanks to the many sensors, crashes will never occur again; the EN-V can sense when obstacles, be a human, wall, or other EN-V, are too close and will make adjustments to avoid collision. Better yet, the EN-V can sense if there's more road ahead of you, so no more falling off those precarious cliffs because of lack of attention. The sensors at the EN-Vs disposal include ultrasonic, visual, and Doppler sensors. And to make everything a nice package, the EN-Vs will have unlimited customization capabilities because it will lack the traditional steering wheel and dashboard; with this, the driver