Soaring gasoline prices drive Segway interest

Tag : battery scooter

It also made his commute a lot less expensive.
A Segway store in Louisville closed late last year. The store'sowner, David Wilson, said the Segway is perfect in a crowded,downtown environment for short trips.
When the Segway Personal Transporter came out in 2001, inventorDean Kamen said the self-balancing vehicles, which recharge at aplug-in socket in a few hours, would revolutionize short-distancetravel. At first, however, they appealed mostly to police, mallsecurity and airport personnel.
But with gasoline prices escalating, sales are growing.
One of Segway's top U.S. dealers -- Riva Motorsports of PompanoBeach, Fla. -- sold almost 200 in 2006, 250 last year and 175 inthe first five months of this year, said Riva spokesman MattSermarini.
"Anything that seems to be economical on fuel or doesn't use fuelat all, people are definitely researching and buying," Sermarinisaid.
Jared Cavalier, the Segway dealer in Columbus, Ohio, that providedFeeney's Christmas gift, said the increased interest has allowedhim to open stores in Toledo and Cincinnati this year.
"These last few months have been fantastic," Cavalier said. "Weunbox them, and they go out the door the same week."
In Louisville, Wilson said he sold his scooters primarily to lawenforcement and companies. With a pricetag of about $5,000, he saidthe Segway remains too expensive for most consumers.
"We targeted the low-hanging fruit of the Segway business," Wilsonsaid of his dealership's institutional clientele.
The majority of consumers have yet to see the Segway as a viablealternative, Wilson said, adding that was why Louisville didn'tsupport a dealership.
The self-balancing, stand-up scooters are getting more attentionall around. There are two "catcalls" he hears most frequently,Feeney said.
"People yelling, 'Dork!' and people yelling, 'How much does thatcost?' "
The Segway's $5,000 price tag and its geekiness -- they were amongmany targets of "Weird Al" Yankovic's parody "White & Nerdy" in2006 -- are probably the biggest limits on its popularity, Feeneysaid.
James Houchard, who owns three Segways with his wife, said he tellspeople who stop him that he sees no difference in his electricbill.
Houchard, 56, said he and his wife like the energy savings, butwhen he tells people what the scooters cost, they're usuallysurprised.
"Five-thousand dollars is an issue," acknowledged Jim Norrod,president and chief executive of Segway, based in Bedford, N.H. Buthe predicted that recent years' sales-growth rate of 40 percent to50 percent will continue this year.
Dealers have seen a further uptick of 30 percent to 40 percent inwalk-in traffic in the past month as people look for antidotes toexpensive gas, according to Carol Valianti, a spokeswoman forSegway.
The privately held company does not release sales data.
For now, the energy savings seem to be Segway's strongest sellingpoint.
Since buying a Segway in April, John O'Connor of Kalispell, Mont.,estimates he has saved at least $100 on gas for commuting.
His four-mile round trip to his job with telecommunicationsprovider CenturyTel costs 4 cents in electricity, he said. He andhis wife have decided to sell one of their automobiles.
Segways don't completely cure the pain at pump. They need a chargeafter about 25 miles, can't protect riders from the elements orcarry much cargo, and have a top speed of 12.5 mph.
"I could probably ride 10 minutes in 10-below-zero weather and notget so cold that I couldn't stand it. If the trip was a lot longer,I probably wouldn't want to do it," O'Connor said.
Courier-Journal reporter Rick Rojas contributed to this story.