Hasta La Gadget!

Range anxiety? Clearly, the decisive issue of today’s automotive age. In an effort to avoid “pulling a Tesla” (or “pulling a Musk,” as it’s uttered in some circles), BMW is reportedly planning to offer petrol-powered loaners to i3 buyers who need to — you know — actually drive somewhere other than work. All snark aside, it’s clear that the 80 to 100 mile range on the 2014-bound i3 won’t mesh with longer road trips — at least not until the charging infrastructure advances by a few years — and that’s a problem that could sway potential buyers into siding with a more conventional automobile.

According to WardsAuto, however, BMW is piecing together a program that would allow i3 buyers to grab a gasoline-powered Bimmer when long hauls are necessary, and the loaner program will be bundled into the cost of the car. Of course, no one’s saying what kind of limits will be put in place here, but you can rest assured that the bigwigs in Munich won’t tolerate any abuse.

Filed under: Transportation

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Via: Autoblog

Source: WardsAuto

If you happen to have plenty of spare cash lying around at home or in the bank, then it would make plenty of sense to check out what gadget mavens Hammacher Schlemmer have up their sleeves this time around, where a cool £13,400 will net you this two person Hovercraft that you see above. The Hovercraft will help glide up to two adults on a 20 cm cushion of air over water and land, capable of hitting speeds of up to 100 kph, now how about that? This is made possible thanks to a 60-horsepower two-cylinder, air-cooled gasoline engine which will power its 91cm diameter fan that sports half a dozen blades.

While it was designed for use on water, it is more than capable of making its way across other terrain such as ice, sand, mud, snow, or grass. Controlling the Hovercraft is a snap with its handlebars, while the right handle grip throttle will control your speed. It has received approval by the US Coast Guard, so you might want to drop an order for it sooner rather than later. Got to beat the Joneses, you know.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Automatic Driving Assistant Provides Money-Saving Tips Based On Driving Behavior, Wireless charging for electric vehicles,

Let’s just say that you inherited a handsome amount of money from your grandfather whom you knew was rich, but did not know that he was a billionaire. So with $100 million or so ringing around your pockets, what are you going to do next? $2 million is going to be loose change to you, so you might as well use that kind of money by purchasing the Orcasub, which is a personal submarine of sorts.

The Orcasub is a personal submarine that was crafted by the folks over at Spymaster, where it measures a cool 22 feet in length, and will tip the scales at a rather massive 4 tons. When you are on board the Orcasub, you will be able to perform descents of up to 1,000 feet, and is a snap to control, thanks to its joystick and pedals. Based on the principles of flight, the Orcasub will navigate its way through the depths in a somewhat similar manner of that of a small plane, sporting a design that speaks so, too. A couple of glass pods will offer a 360 degree view of the ocean depths, and you can use the internal battery (no nuclear power used here, no worries) for up to 80 hours.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: School Bus Driver Caught Texting While Driving, Subaru Vehicles Start On Its Own, Recalls Are In Order,

Electric cars and commercial space flight — what more could a person want? The Tesla / SpaceX founder is bringing all of that to his keynote on this, this second day of South By Southwest Interactive. The exec has never been on to mince words, so this ought to be an interesting one. Join us after the break, won’t you?

Filed under: Transportation, Science

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Texting while driving has been one activity a good majority of people realize is a terrible idea, and yet there are a number of us who can’t help but to take our eyes off the road for a few seconds to read and maybe respond to a text. But one thing we think we can all agree on is if you’re a school bus driver you should refrain from such activities, especially if you’re working.

Robert Stancheski from Seminole County, Florida is being accused of texting while driving his designated route, which shouldn’t be a surprise to learn it’s against school policy to do so, that is, unless it’s an absolute emergency. Unfortunately for Stancheski, it wasn’t and he was caught performing his dirty deed twice on video.

In one of the videos, Stancheski can be seen checking his phone while the bus is moving, taking his eyes off the road a number of times and even going as far as taking both hands off the wheel in order to fully access his device. According to reports, it seems this isn’t his first time getting caught for texting while driving as Stancheski was suspended last April for it.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Voyager Smartphone Prefers To Remain In The Car, Volvo Relies On Crowdsourcing For New App,