NZ Herald's motoring "supplement" Driven has a feature on the expansion of Segway PowerSports in New Zealand. Supporting the article's title is this quote:

“Given the level of interest, we’ll soon achieve our aim of having a dealer in every regional hub of the country,” says Simon Buchanan, NZ country manager for Segway Powersports distributor, Urban Moto Imports.

With an expanded model range of ATVs ("quad bikes"), SSVs (Side-by-Side vehicles) and the Villain recreational vehicle Segway PowerSports has grown rapidly since it launched in New Zealand in 2021. The brand has had spectacular success in Australia, where it has one of the few model ranges to meet strict new safety requirements.

"I've owned many ATVs in my life, and the Segway ATV is the best yet. It leaves the traditional brands in the dust - not just on build quality but with super-competitive pricing plus value-for-money for the price" is what a stranger told Segway New Zealand's Philip Bendall in Rotorua last year. Seeing the SEGWAY numberplate on his vehicle outside the Pullman with a horse float attached, an Australian tourist couple walked over and introduced themselves as horse owners in Australia. They immediately volunteered they owned a Segway ATV, and quickly relayed the sentence that opens this paragraph. They added just how much they loved actually riding their Segway ATV versus the ATVs they'd owned previously.

That kind of enthusiasm for any product is a CEO's (and Marketing Department's) dream! It sure seems Segway PowerSports have hit the ground running with very well engineered vehicles.

The Segway Villain has just won DirtWheels 'New UTV of the Year' award, according to PowerSports Business, who says:

The accolade reflects the UTV’s outstanding performance, cutting-edge design, and innovative features that have captured the attention of both enthusiasts and experts alike. Its industry-leading technology, combined with a reliable engine and advanced suspension system, set the Villain apart in a very competitive landscape.

Furthermore, DirtWheels magazine editors state:

“We spent two days putting the Segways through their paces in the Mojave Desert earlier in the year… To be honest, we were hesitant about Segway’s quality and performance since the Villain was first unveiled a couple of years back. It turns out that the company did its homework and not only brought to market a unique-looking vehicle, but it performed as well as the competition. The Seaway Villain will turn heads, and from what we’ve learned so far, it should do so with years of trouble-free enjoyment”

Later this year Segway PowerSports is introducing the first hybrid powertrain and the Super Villain. Here's what excites the editors at Driven about upcoming, innovative Segway PowerSports hybrid powertrains, an industry-first:

As impressive as the coming Super Villain sounds, I’m just as intrigued by Segway’s coming release of the first hybrid powertrain in the powersports arena. This will retain the 1000cc parallel twin of the Fugelman, but driving the wheels will be the job of a 144kW electric motor with the combustion engine powering a generator at optimum speed to keep the battery charged.

There will be three modes – full power, range extender, and pure electric. I’m betting that the farmers who like to keep the herd calm while driving them, and the tourism and vineyard businesses that like to be seen doing the right thing, are going to snap up the plug-in hybrid Segway like it’s the best thing since Suzuki NZ created the world’s first four-wheeled ATV.

The Driven article is well-written, with good detail. The writer had personally ridden the Fugelman SSV over challenging terrain on a farm near Melbourne, finding it to be "... a responsive and easy machine to control over a challenging course, chosen so it could really strut its stuff. The double-wishbone suspension at both ends and chrome-moly steel frame soaked up everything the rutted and rocky track could sling at it and I felt fully engaged with the feedback coming through the steering wheel via the three-way adjustable electric power steering of the Fugelman. The experience left me thinking that the NZ farmers, hunters, wine growers, and tourist operators who’ll buy the Segway will feel plenty of satisfaction with their purchase."

Alas, Driven could not help but open its article with that boring old chestnut claiming the original self-balancing Segway Personal Transporter (PT) was designed for or was purchased by "...those seeking a life more sedentary".

The Segway PT was never about choosing the lazy option. It was always about choosing the smart option for the job to be done or task to be performed. This might be commuting from A to B across town, it might be vastly better mobility for the impaired. Or nine-times-more-effective security patrols, more efficient deliveries and better event management. Perhaps a unique and time-efficient way to see a busy or beautiful tourist spot by Segway Tour, or improving the enjoyment and ability to keep playing the game for aging golfers. And there's never been a better zero-emission way for a single person to get around a farm or vineyard whilst impacting the absolute minimum ground pressure footprint. The list goes on. None of these examples are "more sedentary" use cases.

That plain ol' stoopid "sedentary" quip was often rolled out by motoring (and other) journalists who somehow failed to see the irony how in championing driving a car or motorbike could equally be argued a sedentary or lazy way to travel (hey, what's wrong with walking, or riding a horse, right?). Only the most zealous cyclists insists that riding an e-bike means you're some kind of lazy, cheatin' push-biker.

Two decades on from the launch of the Segway PT Kiwi commuters have adopted e-scooters and e-bikes more enthusiastically than most other Western nations. Yet motoring journalists don't criticise these choices as "sedentary" options but instead champion them as being part of the solution to decarbonise transport and reduce the number of trips made by car.

The Segway PT offered these things to commuters twenty years ago, and using them one is no less "sedentary" than an e-scooter, and really not much different to an e-bike if the rider applies maximum assist (or doesn't even pedal much at all by using a throttle mode).

Twenty years ago most people just weren't ready to embrace the Segway PT, nor invest in the relatively high purchase price. Yet, today we estimate more than 80% of all Segway PTs sold in New Zealand are still being used, remain fully operational and are just as capable and useful as the day they rolled off the production line. How's that for return on investment? Let's check back in a few years and compare that with an e-scooter or e-bike (in most cases likely to last just a few years.

Accordingly, a wide range of 2nd hand Segway PTs are available alongside the latest-model brand new Segway PTs. For example, here at Segway New Zealand we sell fully refurbished, pre-owned Segway PTs with a full warranty on the device and its batteries, beginning at just $4,995.