US car manufacturer General Motors and personal scooter maker Segway announced yesterday they were working together to build a new two-wheeled, two-seat electric vehicle for use in urban centres.

Dubbed Puma (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility), the vehicle would be powered by lithium-ion batteries and feature a wireless communications network allowing users to avoid traffic and prevent crashes, the companies said.

The prototype is designed to reach speeds of up to 35mph and travel up to 35 miles between recharges. As yet no indication has been given concerning when the two-wheeler would be released nor how much it would cost.

“Imagine small, nimble electric vehicles that know where other moving objects are and avoid running into them,” said General Motors' vice president of research and development Larry Burns. “Now, connect those vehicles in an internet-like web and you can greatly enhance the ability of people to move through cities, find places to park and connect to their social and business networks."

Segway president and CEO Jim Norrod said the project would “demonstrate a dramatically different approach to urban mobility."

General Motors, which has already received 13.4 billion dollars in federal bailout funds, is under pressure from the government to develop more environmentally conscious technology less dependent on oil.