Segway Inc. announced last week that it will end production of its iconic two-wheeled personal vehicle starting July 15. When the company launched the product nearly two decades ago, it boldly claimed that its namesake two-wheeler would revolutionize the way people move, but it only sold 140,000 units across the world.
The Segway was criticized for the high price tag of US$4,950 (about NT$147,000). It was also challenging to ride, because riders must maintain a balance at a specific angle for the vehicle to move forward, and can easily be thrown off if they lose control. Several months after buying the company, British tycoon Jim Heselden was killed when the Segway he was riding fell into a lake in 2010.
Additionally, media reports of battery explosions when the self-balancing transporter overheated were common. The vehicle is banned in nearly half of US cities and it is classed as a “motorized vehicle” in Europe. In Taiwan, riding the Segway on the road is prohibited.
Photo: CNA 照片︰中央社
(Eddy Chang, Taipei Times)
賽格威公司上週宣布自七月十五日起,將停止生產具代表性的雙輪個人電動平衡車。在近二十年前問世時,賽格威最初發下豪語,誇口說這輛同名的雙輪車會徹底改革人們移動的方式,然而多年來全球總共只售出十四萬輛。
賽格威過去因售價高達四千九百五十美元(約十四‧七萬台幣)而遭到批評。駕馭它也是一大挑戰,因為騎士必須從特定角度保持平衡,車子才會前進,一旦失控就很容易被拋下踏板。英國富商吉姆赫斯登在買下該公司幾個月後,於二○一○年因騎著賽格威暴衝到湖裡而死。
此外,平衡車電池過熱爆炸的媒體報導時有所聞。因此它在將近半數的美國城市被禁止,在歐洲則被視為一種「動力車輛」,而台灣亦不允許賽格威在道路上行駛。
(台北時報張聖恩)
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