Question of the Day: Will Personal Mobility Become Reality?
Personal mobility is certainly a big concept here at the Tokyo Motor Show. We’re just not sure it makes sense in the real world. Do you think we’ll ever get production versions of things as wild as the Toyota iReal or Suzuki PIXY?
Comments
Reilly
To me personal mobility sounds like a less useful version of a normal car. A vehicle with only one seat (which isn't a single seater F1 car)? Sounds LESS useful than a simple four-passenger car.
Aaron
Well, it sure hasn't worked out too well for the Segway. Given that these things look very limited on speed and range, only seat one person, and don't look anywhere near as affordable as a motorcycle, bicycle, or scooter, I just don't see these becoming widespread.
Then again, people do seem to enjoy finding more and more reasons to not have to walk or exert energy.
CHARLES G.
Lord, I hope not. We already have personal mobility devices; they're called "feet".
Jonathan Fung [Gotakon]
No. Exercise promotes good health. The healthcare industry will never allow it.
will
Until someone gets hit by a truck. Or a car. Or gets pushed over by a pedestrian.
David
It will never happen. Too much money for too little return.
Rip
When we hit between $4 and $5 per gallon then there will be a market for these as (I would guess) inner city type cars. Can't see anyone wanting to take one on the freeway but with their enlosed cabin they would be preferable in cold climates to using the peds, bicycle or motorcycle.
Paris, Rome, Hamburg, Munich, Amsterdam, London, NYC, SF, Tokyo and a host of other large cities would be great places to use one. Large cities might even ban most large vehicle traffic at some point, much like the London experiment, and provide these using existing technologies to rent them by both time and mileage.
swipe your card and take it to your next destination and leave it for the next person. These services already exist both here and in Europe.
Zipcar is an example - http://www.zipcar.com/ while it requires a reservation, if used in large inner cities the reservation part would mostly be eliminated. Probably just have to set up an account, get a card that's tied to your bank or credit card and off you'd go.
Hong
Why can't I read this article though I have registered already?
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