Hasta La Gadget!

We have the Karma Fisker and Tesla Roadster as prime examples of what an electric sports car can deliver, but if you were to turn the tables around and start off on the other end of the equation, what do you end up with? Enter the Eggasus electric car, which is said to be an alternative solution for urban travel. This is one special looking vehicle which might draw laughs, but it will definitely grab the limelight on the road even if there is a Rolls Royce pulling up beside it. After all, there is a comfortable seat for one to facilitate easy driving, sporting tinted windows alongside an enclosed cab that will offer some semblance of protection for the driver from external elements.

It will not burn up the asphalt however, as the Eggasus electric car will max out at just 25mph. Right now, important details concerning its price, power, and range are unavailable, but do expect to see it arrive in the US later this fall. You would not be able to pick up dates with this since it seats only one, although I am not sure if someone is crazy enough to modify it and include some sort of seating attachment on the roof of the Eggasus.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: e-Tuk Vendo goes all electric, Major automakers agree to fast charging technology standard,

We’ve known about Honda’s plans to bring Aha Radio along for the ride and the tech has already gotten cozy in Subaru and Acura autos. The company has officially outted its plan to partner with Harman to bring web radio, podcasts and both Facebook and Twitter audio news feeds to the in-dash systems of 2013 vehicles. Unlike what we saw in the BRZ, though, HondaLink will arrive with its own smartphone app in tow for pre-selecting content before hopping in the driver’s seat. However, you’ll still need a tethered smartphone in order to run things, the entire kit can be futzed with via steering wheel and on-dash controls. The system will also bundle Pandora and voice-to-text SMS messaging that has already made its way to some models. HondaLink will break from cover this fall in the 2013 Accord, but a peek at the preliminary interface awaits after the break.

Continue reading Honda announces its HondaLink infotainment system, teams up with Aha Radio for the festivities

Filed under: Transportation, Software

Honda announces its HondaLink infotainment system, teams up with Aha Radio for the festivities originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 14:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hopefully, you haven’t paired up your Nissan Leaf with a GE WattStation for charging; if you have, you might want to power up with Ye Olde Wall Outlet for a short while. GE has confirmed to the New York Times that some Leaf drivers have encountered “problems” after charging up their EVs from WattStations. What problems? GE isn’t going into detail, but a Nissan regional manager claims that the the charging systems of 11 Leafs have been damaged after plugging into a WattStation. Whether or not there’s a crisis or a coincidence is still up in the air at this stage. Nissan isn’t issuing any warnings or recalls, and GE will only say that it’s “actively working” with the automaker to find the root cause. All the same, we’ll be cautious until the companies turn a new… you guessed it.

Update: GE reached out to us with the full statement, which you’ll find in the comments below. The company is mostly touching on what it mentioned earlier, but it’s adding that the WattStation meets the needed SAE and UL standards. Other EVs haven’t encountered problems to date.

Filed under: Transportation

Nissan Leaf, GE WattStation embroiled in charging damage shocker, invite other EV puns (update: full GE statement) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 05:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last time we saw the Faraday electric bike, it had just emerged victorious from the Oregon Manifest design competition. Designed by Ideo and built by Portland’s Rock Lobster Cycles, the retro-styled ride was destined to rot in concept hell for all eternity — that is until lead designer Adam Vollmer quit Ideo to press the bike into production under the Faraday Bicycles name. Now he’s perfected the design, the company’s launching a pre-sale on Kickstarter to, er, kickstart the first production run.

Don’t be fooled by its low-fi looks, parallel top tubes hold a series of lithium-ion batteries which power a front motor, good for between 10 and 15 miles of travel. The two front prongs are the basis of a modular racking system and contain a pair of LED headlamps that activate automatically in bad light. It charges in 45 minutes and weighs around 40 pounds. The bike will set you back $3,500, $300 less than when a second run is produced next year — significantly cheaper than the current price for the $5,400 Grace One we rode around New York. If you’ve got some baller-style cash to throw around, you can spend $10,000 on a collectors edition hand-finished by Rock Lobster’s Paul Sadoff. After the break we’ve got video and more details, but be warned — you might find yourself opening your wallet a little too rapidly.

Continue reading Faraday Porteur concept e-bike becomes a reality, launches pre-sale on Kickstarter (video)

Filed under: Transportation

Faraday Porteur concept e-bike becomes a reality, launches pre-sale on Kickstarter (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That’s RUTH. In the end, she really amounts to a big robot arm with six joints, but Ford clearly has a soft spot for the faceless employee. First utilized in Europe, the Robotized Unit for Tactility and Haptics is currently at work helping to tweak the interiors of the company’s 2013 Fusions, turning data collected from customers across the world into the hard to define concept of “quality,” touching the trim, pushing buttons and turning knobs in the interior of the vehicle, in order to help provide what Ford says is, “the same type of quality they might feel if they were to buy a high-end luxury car.” The version of the arm dubbed Ruth 2.0 is currently being used by Ford alone in North America, and the company has extended her quality checking to include seat comfort in the vehicles. Check out a video of the long arm of the car company after the break.

Continue reading Ford wants you to meet its touchy, feely interior quality robot, RUTH 2.0

Filed under: Robots, Transportation

Ford wants you to meet its touchy, feely interior quality robot, RUTH 2.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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