Filed under: Transportation

Okay, so maybe Hope’s forthcoming Aeris isn’t that bad, but it is somewhat hard to believe that sensors were installed in the handlebars to “prevent accidents” if some demented designer didn’t fully anticipate this thing to be a vehicle magnet. Designed for the urban tools hipsters in attendance, this bike is reportedly constructed from Hybrix, a material “supposedly as tough as stainless steel but lighter than aluminum.” Beyond that, details are few and far between, but cyclists should be able to find out more when it launches this fall for around five large.

[Via ShinyShiny]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed under: Transportation

Look, protecting the world from the terror of Jihadists is serious business — which is why we’re not sure that rolling up on a Segway is the ideal way to get the Axis of Evil to drop its weapon / bomb / fanatic mindset… still, Jackie Chan will be psyched. Our suggestion? the electric unicycle.

Josh T: “Stop! Step out of the automobile and concur to be my friend.”
Don: “Don’t make me lean forward and come over there.”
Chris: “Do it… do it now! Get to the human transportah!”
Josh F: “Snake? Snake?! SNAAAAAKE!”
Ryan: “Watch yourself, Frank, we’re dealing with professionals. They’ve got a… vehicle.”
Darren: “So, um, is it safe to back away from this car?”
Richard: “Yes, this would be more intimidating from a Humvee, but y’know, gas prices these days…”
Nilay: “Put the Roomba down!”
Thomas: “Quit calling me Ginger, I’m a day walker!”

[Thanks, Mike]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed under: Transportation

Our favorite Terminator (and Governor of California) Arnold Schwarzenegger has just helped Tesla Motors make an announcement that’s probably sending chills through traditional automaker’s boardrooms. The company has just introduced a fully-electric, five passenger sports sedan dubbed the Model S, which will be selling for $60,000, and will manage 225 miles on a full charge. The carmaker states it will produce the cars in a brand new manufacturing plant it’s opening in Northern California. We’re on the ground at the announcement right now — no pictures or release date have surfaced yet, but you’ll know more as soon as we do.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed under: Transportation

While Audi is over there planning to produce an electric vehicle within the next decade, Mercedes-Benz is hoping to be totally petro free within seven years. At least that’s the word according to a recent report in The Sun. Dr. Herbert Kohler, who is responsible for Mercedes’ advanced engineering, has reportedly suggested that “by 2015 motorists will have switched almost completely to alternative fuel automobiles.” In order to make sure it’s not left out, the automaker already has an electric automobile in the works for 2010 as well as plans to use its DiesOtto engine which will give motorists the ability to use biofuels should they choose. Still, aiming to phase petroleum absolutely out of its lineup by 2015 sounds overly ambitious from here, but we certainly won’t complain if it achieves said goal.

[Via AutoblogGreen, thanks Dan]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed under: Transportation

Progressive insurance has been testing out the MyRate driving monitoring system for a few years now (it used to be called TripSense), but it’s finally taking the system national, bringing pay-as-you-drive insurance into the mainstream. The little blue box plugs into your car’s ODB II diagnostic port (all automobiles made after 1996 have one), and studiously records your driving habits, wirelessly sending the data back to Progressive HQ (it’s not clear exactly how). Each six months, Progressive will crunch the numbers and issue a new rate for you based on how you drive — savings of up to 40 percent are possible. That’s pretty tempting, depending on your current rates and driving habits, but we’re not so sure we’re willing to share that much data for an unspecified discount — especially since we’re confident the MyRate box will get cracked almost immediately.

[Thanks, Mike; image courtesy of Aaron Landry]

- MyRate press release
- MyRate video
- How MyRate works

Popularity: 4% [?]

Filed under: Transportation

Progressive insurance has been testing out the MyRate driving monitoring system for a few years now (it used to be called TripSense), but it’s finally taking the system national, bringing pay-as-you-drive insurance into the mainstream. The little blue box plugs into your car’s ODB II diagnostic port (all automobiles made after 1996 have one), and studiously records your driving habits, wirelessly sending the data back to Progressive HQ (it’s not clear exactly how). Each six months, Progressive will crunch the numbers and issue a new rate for you based on how you drive — savings of up to 40 percent are possible. That’s pretty tempting, depending on your current rates and driving habits, but we’re not so sure we’re willing to share that much data for an unspecified discount — especially since we’re confident the MyRate box will get cracked nearly immediately.

[Thanks, Mike; image courtesy of Aaron Landry]

- MyRate press release
- MyRate video
- How MyRate works

Popularity: 5% [?]

Filed under: Transportation

You know how we love plug-in hybrids around these parts, particularly if they’re actually going to get built — crazy, we know. Now it looks like Volkswagen is going to get into the game, with a “Twin Drive” Golf powered by a 122 horsepower diesel engine and 82 horsies of electric motor. The vehicle should debut around 2010, and VW plans on spending $769 million on the project, helped along by a $23.5 million program put in place by the German government to help along such development. The car, which uses the electric motor for primary power, supplemented by the diesel motor and regenerative braking for extra juice, should be able to squeeze about 31 miles out of its Sanyo-developed lithium-ion batteries in all-electric mode.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed under: Transportation

ZAP didn’t have much more than some shiny renders to show for itself when it snapped up the hundred-year-old Detroit Electric brand earlier this year, but it looks like the company has now finally turned out an equally shiny prototype, which recently made its debut on the local news in Ohio. Unfortunately, the automobile apparently isn’t capable of moving off the parking lot on its own just yet, with it reportedly now on its way to California where it’ll get outfitted with a motor. While the current pace of things might seem a bit slow, the company is apparently still promising to have its first vehicles on the road as early as next year, when the Alias here is expected to sell for about $33,000. Hit up the read link below for the video.

[Via AutoblogGreen]

Popularity: 1% [?]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation

We have all ideas (okay, so we know it for a fact) that the Los Angeles Traffic Cam was designed for those living in LA, but we can’t help but imagine how drivers in less congested cities could use this to make their own daily commute not seem so bad. NBC4 and 3rd Dimension have teamed up to beam out live video and nearly live still shots from some 270 LA-area traffic cameras to those with compatible mobiles, and being that it’s ad-supported, the whole thing is totally free to end users. Of course, for all you know, they could just loop a clip of gridlocked traffic during rush hour and call it reality. Sadly, stated idea would nearly work.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed under: Transportation

It’s not often that we get to cover spy shots here at Engadget, but we’re as giddy as school children about this one. The SpaceShipTwo design was officially rolled out in January, and if Flightglobal is to be believed, that image above is the first capture of the craft. Reportedly, the shot was taken in Mojave, California where the automobile is being constructed at Scaled Composites. One step closer to the next huge leap for mankind? Sure looks care about it.

Popularity: 2% [?]