First, kudos to GM employees! For the second straight year, General Motors scored the most wins on Strategic Vision's Total Quality Index (TQI), leading in five segments out of the eight won by domestics. GM led five of the survey's 20 vehicle categories, beating out Toyota, Honda and Nissan.
Taking the award for the growing small multi-function segment was the Chevrolet HHR (cool car), while the Saturn VUE received the top spot in the small SUV segment, edging out last year's winner, the Hyundai Tucson. The Chevrolet Corvette Coupe was No. 1 for the third year in a row among the luxury small specialty cars and the Chevrolet Corvette Convertible took top honors in the luxury convertible segment. In the class of really tough trucks, the Chevrolet Silverado HD (2500/3500) pulled ahead of the competition, beating out the Dodge Ram 2500/3500 and Ford F-250/350.
Finally, from Cool Hunter, here's the Kenguru, a car designed in Hungary specifically for wheelchair users:
"The car's interior space has no front seat - just a space built to house the driver's own wheelchair so all he/she has to do is simply roll in through the extra large car doors and into position. The wheelchair locks into place, within easy reach of the car's controls which are centred around a joystick. It's light years away from the current options for disabled drivers, which involve having to hoist themselves into the driver's seat of standard cars."
How cool! It's pretty small, and I wouldn't feel too safe zooming down I-75 in one of these cars with a semi-truck on my tail, but it looks like just the thing to use on secondary roads. I bet it gets good gas mileage too, and it's probably more economical to buy than those huge conversion vans so many wheelchair users drive.
UPDATE: The Kenguru fascinated me so I did a little more research. It turns out the Kenguru is an electric car. It has a limited range, roughly 35 miles, and travels at speeds limited to surface streets or roughly 25 miles per hour. The Kenguru is available for $12,500 in Hungary (which is cheaper than many high-end electric wheelchairs) and free with healthcare if an individual qualifies (I assume they mean Hungarian healthcare).
4 comments:
Your assumption on the Hungarian Insurance is most likely spot on. It is an amazing idea. maybe they are now designing the Full Monty! I know many a person could use such a vehicle...
Poetryman, I know many a person who could use such a vehicle too. I could also see senior citizens zipping around in the Kenguru in those retirement villages in Florida! Electric scoots are good, but they don't protect you from the rain.
If gas prices continue to rise, the Kenguru might be a good option for people who don't need to travel outside their local communities.
automotive: Task that is one great idea!
Hi everybody
We have just launched a brand new website on Kenguru the first electrically powered car specially designed for wheelchair users:
www.kengurucars.co.uk
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