In a few months time, the Segway, this curious electric vehicle composed of handle bars and wheels, will celebrate 10 years since its launch. Its degree of innovation and great originality deserve thought from Tecmovia, particularly with respect to the future of transport and sustainable mobility.
First off, I will admit that I am a fan of the Segway. I think it is fantastic, an industrial design lesson condensed into less that 50kg of extreme simplicity, and its total mass is precisely the first of the points to analyse.
24 times lighter than a small vehicle
The majority of journeys undertaken by a private vehicle are made with just one passenger on board (more than 2 occupants is something very rare). This means that it makes sense to make a mass comparison between a Segway and a small car (used as a single-seater), which, we suppose, is around 1.200 kg. In this comparison, the multiplication factor of the masses between both vehicles is no less than 24:1. The existence of the Segway means that short distance transportation for single individuals is possible (this is very common usage of a medium-sized vehicle), which saves more than 90% of the mass to displace. This amounts to a lot.
Maybe I am being unfair, since a Segway does not have doors, nor a roof, nor is it possible to compare it with any small vehicle in terms of specifications. From here, the next question would be double-sided: is everything that the Segway manages without really necessary? Is it necessary to multiply its weight by 24 so as to obtain these additional characteristics? A Segway basically manages without speed, range, bodywork and carrying capacity, merely maintaining the pure essence of mobility.
In other words
Speed: we are talking about a vehicle which weighs less than its passenger and is capable of moving at 20km/h to just over 30km in distance between recharges, which a far from negligible percentage of the world’s population covers in terms of distance to work. The speed is substituted by the total traffic flow and fun usage while the range is more than sufficient for average urban journeys.
With respect to the bodywork of any car, this could be infinitely lighter if cars were not designed to protect us from other cars which also weigh a ton (once again the mass puts in an appearance). The Segway replaces all these kilos of steel, glass and seats by the recommendation to use a helmet and the need to use rainwear if it rains. In such a slow vehicle, very light bodywork would, at most, be justified, (possibly a single front panel with a transparent top), so as not to get too wet when it rains. If we insist of having this specification, low cost and low density polymers which are able to achieve this with the addition of 20 extra kilos exist, … and our imaginary Segway for adverse weather conditions would remain below 70 kg.
The lack of bodywork has its advantages
But there are even more. It seems that the lack of bodywork has important advantageous, such as 360° absolute visibility, the possibility to practically turn full circle, ride on pavements, enter a building, a lift, an escalator, park next to your table in the office…I have never seen a small vehicle parked in an office, all those that I see take up 9m² of valuable space when they are parked, sufficient to park some 20 Segways.
The first conclusion is that more than 90% of our car is unnecessary and is even a nuisance when going to work (empty boot, empty seats, deformation zones, airbags, pirotechnic seatbelt pretensioners, lateral bars, unused power and size of the engine…) Definitively, the profound importance of the displaced mass in any vehicle deserves its own mention.
Let’s now talk about the simplicity of use, far beyond the formal simplicity. How long does it take to learn to use a Segway? From my personal experience, I can say that one does not learn to use a Segway, you simply get on and go. It is possible to learn to swim, to cycle, to pilot a helicopter...but to ride a Segway is a type of magical mobility aid and appears so intuitive that its own manufacturer qualifies it as "instinctive”. The most interesting thing is that this extreme ease of use is the result of a complex system of sensors, gyroscopes and brilliant software which is totally transparent to the user. By contrast, how much time does it take and money does it cost to obtain a driving licence?... and how many people never learn ! The numbers continue to grow.
Sustainability: a Segway does not emit anything into the atmosphere whilst it is running. It is a purely electric vehicle which obtains its energy from the mains supply systems and its emissions are therefore those of the electricity generation mix of the country into which it plugs. What we are doing is centralizing the energy generation and, as a result, multiplying the possibilities of making use of economies of scale, moving the generation problem to the electricity companies. The alternative is that each car has its own combustion engine, which transforms the chemical energy contained in a fossil fuel (non renewable) into movement, a process in which the efficiency depends on each car model and is in any case limited to very low levels as a result of the laws of thermodynamics, aside from introducing pollutant emissions in the city centres.
Once the energy is in our tank or battery, the superiority of an electric motor compared with one with internal combustion is so great that, once again, it deserves its own mention. I think that here it is relevant to simply imagine a city without fumes, traffic jams or noise, without examining other considerations.
One last thought
It is interesting that with all these advantages, this mode of transport has, until now, been a relative commercial failure. How do we explain this apparent contradiction? I think that there are two fundamental reasons as to why so few have been sold: it is very expensive on account of the batteries and the technology that it incorporates and it is practically incompatible with the up-to-date city model. Pavements are not always sufficiently wide and riding amongst traffic would make us very vulnerable (to such a degree as on a motorbike but at a much lower speed).
So, after all this, is the Segway not such a good idea? I think it is, what is not a good idea is to go to work in an empty car which weighs more than a ton and, once we have all adopted this transport model, there will be no room for logic. What the Segway does teach us is the path to follow: simplicity, reduction in mass and components, transport solutions tailored to the real need and zero emissions during its usage.
It is the world and not the Segway which is wrong.
Daniel Seigo, is the blog manager of www.tecmovia.com.
Tecnomovia.com - http://www.tecmovia.com
Tecnomovia is a publication that combines information about new sustainable technologies in the automotive industry. It is a website dealing about news and analysis on three aspects in the engine world: the new generation cars (hybrid and electric), the technology related to automobiles (prototypes, gadgets, systems' driver assistance) and mobility (mobility as a service, sustainable mobility ...)
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Alex67
28 septembre 2011
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