Imagine what Seattle parking lots and roads will look like once some of these cheap and efficient concept cars start rolling off of assembly lines. They’re very much the “value meal” of the car industry, just the basics and a whole lot smaller. One things for certain, bulk shopping at Costco would become virtually impossible.

 Recently General Motors and Segway released the Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility project, P.U.M.A for short.  It’s a mix between R2-D2 and a pimped out hand truck than an actual car. However in you live in a city, the two seat, two wheeled all electric vehicle would reduce on emissions and congestion significantly.

Another unique and creative feature is the GPS technology. Larry Burns, the Vice President of GM told the Associated Press, “the vehicles would also be part of a communications network that through the use of transponder and GPS technology would allow them to drive themselves. The vehicles would automatically avoid obstacles such as pedestrians and other cars and therefore never crash”, he said.

Going a maximum speed of 35 miles per hour, in theory, the PUMA, wouldn’t need airbags or seat belts.“If Hummer took GM to the large vehicle extreme,” said Burns.  “Then the PUMA takes GM to the other.”

That extreme would be small.  The PUMA prototype reportedly weighs in at just 300 pounds, and would get up to 35 hours on one charge of the lithium-ion battery. The GM-Segway collaboration is ambitious and bold. But with GM relying on billions of dollars in Federal aid just to stay afloat; the PUMA could represent a big step in the automakers’ reinvention of itself. 

So how much would the PUMA cost Seattle car buyers? GM has yet to announce a base price for the PUMA. However the automaker promises that once you take into consideration purchase price, insurance, maintenance, and fuel, it would be a fraction of that compared to a standard sized vehicle.

While it may be a couple a years from actually hitting Seattle roads, one question will undoubtedly come up about the pint-sized PUMA; does it have enough room to fit my Venti sized coffee cup?

See the PUMA roll at Segway.com     

The ECH is unique even compared to other electric cars out in the market today. Fraik’s company Evergreen Electromotive designed it specifically not to go on highways or freeways. The ECH’s top speed is just over 35 mph (fast for electric vehicles). That extra power means the ECH can climb hills easier than other electric cars.

“I was tired of the gas guzzlers just like everyone else,” explains Fraik. “But the electric cars out on the market were kind of weak too. I’m a car guy and I like to drive. This (ECH) offers it all. You can do a lot at 35 miles per hour.”

Washington State’s House Bill 1820 back in 2007 made all the difference for Fraik and his electric car. The bill allowed zero emission vehicles to travel city and county roads up to 35 MPH without having to undergo federal highway crash testing.

“It costs a fortune to do federal crash testing,” Fraik says. “For the major car makers out there, the Fords, and Chevy’s of the world, they can pay millions for just the testing. It just wouldn’t be cost effective to build anything faster. That’s why it doesn’t go faster than 35 miles per hour.”

Along with the legislation and the possibility of reducing the national speed limits as a way to conserve, led to the creation of the ECH. But with a top speed at just over 35 MPH, how many people would want to buy?

“It’s the perfect Seattle car,” tells Fraik, getting into salesman mode. “I can get on the ferry with it, drive through downtown and get anywhere I want on the streets. Yeah there are other electric cars out there built in France and China, places like that . But this one, is built right here. It’s not just American built, it’s Washington built.”

As of right now, there’s only one ECH, the prototype seen at the Seattle Auto Show. Fraick’s goal is to have them in production in the early part of 2009, and he has eyes on making his ECH vehicles for the city and state.

Electric Composite Hatchback Stats
• Plugs into 110v Outlet
• Option of 80-10,000 miles per charge
• Top speed at 35MPH
• Can Seat 2 in front/2 in back
• Zero Emissions
• Estimated 2 cents per mile

It wasn’t just the unique cars that caught our attention however, as we spent hours at the show interviewing both dealers of all types, from startups like Zenn Motors, a Washington based all-electric car manufacturer, to the possibly soon-to-be-gone Chrysler reps. With hundreds of photos, video, business cards and frantic scribbles, we’ll be gunning out quite a few articles in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, here’s a quick round-up of some quick observations we had during the 2009 Seattle Auto show:

Cars to Make Your Head Turn
Park Place LTD always has an impressive collection of exotic autos and this year was no different. This is where we found the eye-candy Lotus Exiges and an army of expensive Aston Martins, including the 007’s famous Aston Martin DBS. Audi stepped up to the big boys league with their rubber melting R8, while Mercedes drew a constant crowd with their raw meets refined CL 63 AMG. Oddly, the Maserati section was a ghost town, as if people suddenly realized these and the other head turners cost more than what most people make in year. That’s why we also nickname these the “museum cars” – great for looking, but no touching unless you can afford it!

The Big Hit: Green Cars
Not surprisingly, the green machines are getting a lot of love this year. In past seasons, most of the electric and alternative fuel vehicles would be stuck in the back or in some lonely (and probably inexpensive) corner.

Not this year. In fact, some of the big boys are pushing their fuel efficient autos, while it seems most automakers have a hybrid of some type in production or development. Surprisingly, Chevrolet has one of the most prominent green displays in the whole building, pushing their hybrid SUVs and prototype hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.

Being stuck in the corner didn’t seem to hurt Mercedes owned Smart Car, which drew oohs and aahs from guys and girls alike. The Green Car Company, based in Bellevue and various other electric car companies were getting a good share of attention. Ferrari won the competition for most photographs, but the green cars were the winner in popularity it seemed.

Subaru’s Gran Turismo Simulator
With three monitors and a seat that makes you feel the experience along with every bump, Subaru’s Gran Turismo Simulator will be popular with kids of all ages. The wait may be long, and everyone sees you crashing all over the place, but it’s a fun diversion when you need a quick break from the propaganda machines.

Things to Keep an Eye On
There was a constant buzz surrounding the Toyota Venza. The sales reps were constantly busy fielding questions on when it would hit the market for sale (early 2009) and how much it would cost. Those kind of questions are usually indicators of serious consumer interest. If the Seattle Auto Show is any indication, the Venza will sell well when it’s out of hush-hush mode and in production.

It might be hard to keep an eye on, because it makes almost no noise. We’re talking about The Bad Boy Buggy, which is an electric off road vehicle built in Mississippi. Will the off-road crowd buy (literally) into a plug-in ATV is up to speculation.

Potential Disappointments
Chrysler has one of the coolest looking concept cars in the Akino. With a space age looking exterior, Scion xB style frame, right-side steering wheel, curved back seats and rear-facing passenger seat, it made for one heck of an impression.

But, despite this all and despite being displayed smack dab in the middle of the event center, the Akino remains a the big mystery. None of the Chrysler people were allowed to comment on it, or give any type of information. They wouldn’t even tell us the fuel efficiency of this futuristic vehicle. While automakers have every right to be secretive about their concepts, this felt like yet another routine Detroit ploy to build up intrigue.

Lastly, in a world of green and hybrid cars, there is the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid. Visually it’s still a monster. And looking at the specs, it only offers 20MPG. Seriously, a 20MPG hybrid? We were hoping for more from the American automakers in the green category, but Lincoln and Dodge didn’t really go green at all. They kept with the big car, big horsepower approach that has worked well in the past. But if observation is any indicator, they sorely missed the spot with this crowd.