ACCOUNTING TREATMENT FOR INVESTMENT

Looking like something out of a science-fiction movie, this is one of three commuter cars General Motors designed as possible transportation modes for the future - the very fat future.

The EN-V cars are meant to meet the demand for short-range urban transport vehicles in places where streets are tighter and parking space is limited, but driving distances are shorter than in rural or suburban areas. The En-Vs are roughly half the length of a Smart car and weigh less than half a ton. Each car is powered by a lithium-ion battery pack, seats two, and has a cabin fitted onto a Segway-designed two-wheel base. Inside are all sorts of gadgets to maneuver the car around town - including car-to-car communication and pedestrian-detecting sonar, among other things. It adjusts itself to the contours of the street and also turns in place.

You won't see it in a GM dealership for 2012. If such a car ever gets produced, you'll likely be able to buy one in the next leap year in which February 29 is a Wednesday - i.e., 2040. My only skepticism regarding the EN-Vs is that they were co-designed by Segway, and their motorized scooters went from being the new wave of urban transport to a joke in a Wells Fargo commercial. (In the ad, a Wells Fargo customer who owns one has a history of investing in ideas that didn't work.)

Protester dressed in Revolutionary War garb being interviewed on the sidelines of Freedom Plaza during the second day of protests. Between Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party, I'd say the smart investor should invest in companies manufacturing tricorner hats.

Washington, DC / October 7, 2011

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