My hope is that the I2/X2 quality doesn't suffer and go down hill. I am willing to pay the going price now as long as they don't start making short cuts. Hopefully the US dealers will still be in business and that this will be as transparent as possible.

There may be something to the idea that the UK branch bought Segway for the RMP side. Today's Segway News ( published JUST today ) was all about the robotics platforms:

http://blog.segway.com/20100113spotl...e-way-774.html

They are very advanced (and much different) than others out there, although they may share the same cell types. Each battery contains it's own circuit board and intelligent charging system. The base merely contains the power supply/converter. The charging portion is in the battery itself.

The machine knows every battery that has ever been mounted to the machine and that specific battery's past performance characteristics. It knows when a battery has been attached to it for the first time as well. It knows when cells start to over-temp or are beginning to go bad. A truely "smart" battery.

Nobody, that I'm aware of, has anything like it. Why do you think they are 1/3 of the price of the machine?

Yes, but that's not Valence ... that's Segway. Valence provides the raw cells, which are indeed just another kind of LiFe chemistry. Everything surrounding the actual cells was designed, built, and programmed by Segway. If they choose to do so, they could go with any battery technology they see fit.

Really? That's news to me. AFIK it only seems to 'remember' a few cells, and the TI DSP that runs the whole system doesn't have a lot of memory to store much at all. I've opened and reloaded a Segway battery to replace bad cells, and had things work just marvelously.

You're working too hard, let Google do the searching:
http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1...nce.com+segway

Could be but
 

I'm not convinced on this. The blog could just be a coincidence. I'm not aware of any Segway UK involvement with RMPs prior to now and I'm not aware of any major successes Segway INC have had with RMPs. They list a few examples:

• Robosoccer
• NASA Robonaut
• Target practice

Interesting but not the kind of thing that will excite everyone.

I know just because I'm not aware of something doesn't mean it is so (or not), but until we hear something official or some further examples/thoughts, I'll stick to my guns on this.

Well, this found the references to Segway on the Valence site, but it confirms my point that the Segway references there are buried, mostly in the investor relations releases.

What I was trying to say is that Valence does not seem to be promoting their relationship with Segway. If there is a Segway anywhere in their "applications" section, I did not find it. Since Segway seems to be a rather significant portion of their business, I find this curious.

Segway provided the specs. Valence manufactures the boards, programs them, installs them onto the cells, and seals the cases. They do much more than simply manufacture the cells.

On the other hand almost every lithium battery on the market has a PCB installed in it to control over and under voltage/current. This is standard protocal for lithiums and has been for many years. If you take an old cell phone battery apart you will even see a small PCB in there.

Just to close the loop on this thread, Segway has confirmed the information that I shared from the shareholder's letter:

http://blog.segway.com/20100114segwa...erger-808.html

On a more serious note -- what does this merger mean for the availability of repair service, replacement parts, and general support for our i2/x2 and older PT models?

Should we be stocking up on common parts, to make sure we have them in the future? I've always been worried about things like the tires, the batteries, and such...