What's the Deal?

[Steve Prairie]

#1) Segway will be retrofited w/ a stirling engine: This improvement would enhance the running time of the Segway while conserving fossil fuels. And seeing how it can be used much longer, it may become more practicle in cities --> less smog in cities.

#2) Vanity Fair Article:

There are many observers that think that if Kamen's people have actually cracked the code, their Stirling engine could wind up being far more revolutionary than their electric superscooter. Kamen doesn't disagree, but he sees the projects as two parts of a single, unified master plan. The plan, it turns out, has yet another element-one whose details he remains a bit guarded about. In tandem with the Stirling project, Kamen's team is developing a small water-purification system that would use the engines waste heat to zap contaminated H2O and render it drinkable. According to Kamen, equipping the Segway with a Stirling engine would in effect turn it into a "portable, personal-sized electric power plant - you ride around on it all day, then take it home and plug your house into it." Adding the water purifier would turn the machine additionally into a "rolling waterworks-you connect it to your well and it gives you potable water

Recap: Revolutionary power...water purifier...zero degree turning radius...balances....and of course, it's one of Dean's inventions.

I'd buy one for 3k... but I may wait for the next model.

-Steve