GM has announced the advent of a futuristic, non-car city vehicle it calls P.U.M.A. for Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility. The PUMA, shown here in prototype form, comes from a partnership between GM and Segway, makers of the iconic stand-up electric side-by-side two-wheeler. An innovative “Boomer buggy,” the PUMA feels like GM’s effort to distract the public (and government) from the more serious business ahead for automakers. But, it is interesting. (See, the shiny object does work.)

The PUMA resembles a modified motorized wheelchair (hence, the reference to aging baby boomers), enshrouded in a bubble, and it reminds of the Toyota i-Real concept shown in 2007. The main, central wheels do the driving and steering. Small castor-like wheels are suspended fore and aft. The front ones keep the vehicle upright when it’s parked, and the rear wheels presumably keep the vehicle from tipping over backwards. (The net effect resembles both a rickshaw and the world’s shortest-wheelbase rail dragster.) The egg-shaped cabin structure is actually a roll cage partially enclosed in plexiglass.

When in motion, special electronic controllers balance the vehicle on those two main wheels, as they do with a Segway PT. Unlike with the upright Segway, though, the PUMA’s driver is sitting down on a seat that can fit two people riding abreast. GM’s announcement said the PUMA can travel at up to 35 mph and up to 35 miles before recharging its lithium-ion battery pack. Segway’s Web site http://www.segway.com/puma/ mentions 25 to 35, respectively, on both those measures. The PUMA has some fascinating features still in development, such as the ability to sense the presence of other vehicles, interact with GPS, and sense and stop for pedestrians. GM is positioning the PUMA as a fast, efficient, pollution-free (depending on the electricity source) alternative to the automobile, something that makes sense in smog-choked modern cities. We think it makes more sense to think of the PUMA as an alternative to a motor scooter.

The PUMA’s cabin should afford a bit more protection to the driver than one gets with a scooter. Photos accompanying GM’s announcement show the PUMA’s driver and passenger wearing four-point shoulder-harness safety belts, which is something else you don’t get with a scooter. If you accept the risks inherent in driving any small-scale motorized vehicle on city streets populated with speeding cars and trucks, then tooling around in the tiny PUMA wouldn’t be such a scary proposition.

On the day-to-day level, the PUMA is apt to be a fair-weather friend. It won’t be a joy in rain and snow or when’s it’s freezing cold outside. The prototype’s 35-mile range sounds adequate for its intended urban and local uses. This may be a tiny detail, but it’s hard to see where a typical apartment-dwelling New Yorker is supposed to find a free outlet to plug the thing in, even overnight. Maybe there’ll be outlets at every parking meter some day.

The price has not been announced, and as a work in progress it’s unrealistic to expect one. The Segway Web site hedges here, saying it would cost less than an economy car. GM has mentioned something between one-third and one-quarter the cost of a car. It’s hard to know what that means. Maybe $5,000, maybe $10,000 maybe $15,000. For now we’ll be taking a cab.

—Gordon Hard

See Consumer Reports' coverage of the 2009 New York auto show.