Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

A company called Sekurus has developed a device called the On Time which will actually force a new car owner to make their scheduled payments or face the risk of the vehicle not starting. The devices run about $250 and are typically installed by car dealerships or finance companies who cater to buyers who don’t have the most exemplary of credit histories. When a payment on the vehicle is nearly due, an LED light on the box starts to blink. On the actual deadline day it will start to make an annoying beeping noise as well. If the owner makes the payment, the lender provides them with a six-digit code they can punch in which will disable the alerts. If they fail to make that payment, the vehicle simply won’t start. And if they continue to avoid paying up, they’ll soon get a visit from the repo man. And I don’t mean Emilio Estevez either.

[ High-tech gear disables car if borrower misses payment ] VIA [ Gear Diary ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Given the choice, these days I’d rather go for a spin in the Tumbler Batmobile from the latest Batman films, but as a kid I was definitely a fan of the Tim Burton version. Sure, he didn’t actually design it, but he definitely helped influenced what has become another iconic iteration in the history of the Batmobile. And if your own infatuation with the Burton Batmobile is still going strong, it’s time to get out that credit card (or credit cards) since one of the Batmobiles used in the original Tim Burton Batman film is now on eBay.

This particular Batmobile is the 5th one built for the film and features a custom chassis powered by a Chevrolet 350. The only door is the sliding cockpit canopy, so it might not be the best choice for taking the family out on a Sunday afternoon drive. But having this thing parked in your driveway will definitely make you the king of your neighborhood. The reserve on the car is $500,000 and a 20% deposit is due within 48 hours of the end of the sale. On top of that, since the car was originally owned by Warner Bros Productions, you’ll have to sign a contract with them and comply with a few other legal terms before taking ownership.

[ eBay - Batmobile ] VIA [ Autoblog ]

By Luke Anderson

I’ve always thought about getting a hybrid car, as it would would save some cash, in addition to saving the environment. Unfortunately a new car just isn’t in my current budget. If I did have a hybrid, I would definitely consider an add-on like one of these SEV Solar Roof Modules.

This solar panel fits on all 2004-2006 Toyota Prius models and will keep your car going for an extra 20 miles each day just by catching some rays. No word on price just yet, but the company claims that it will pay for itself withing 2-3 years.

[ SolarElectricVehicles ] VIA [ RedFerret ]

By Luke Anderson

Getting a flat tire on your car always sucks. I don’t care where you are, it’s never fun to change a tire. Usually the worst part is actually trying to jack your car up so you can take off the wheel. Usually you’ll find the worst excuse for a car jack known to man in your trunk. You know the kind, they have some kind of rod that you have to twist about three hundred times, then you get to do it all again when you’re done changing the tire. I believe I’ve found the coolest jack ever.

This Exhaust Air Jack is a work of pure genius. It is a big orange bag which you set underneath your vehicle. There is a hose coming out of it which you connect to the exhaust of your car. In about 30 seconds the bag will have inflated enough to raise your car up off the ground. There’s even a one-way valve to prevent air loss if you decide to turn off your vehicle This will work on just about any surface, which isn’t the same for traditional jacks. I’d say that $129.99 for one of these would be money well spent.

[ AJPrindle ] VIA [ SlipperyBrick ]

By Andrew Liszewski

There are a few online tools you can use to help you determine if a used car is a lemon or not, but here’s one you can actually carry on your keychain. The Paint Thickness Tester does pretty much just that. The probe on one end allows you to determine if there are irregularities in the paintwork on a car, which will tell you if the vehicle still has it’s original paintjob or if the bodywork has had extensive, but well-hidden repairs.

Place the test probe on the car roof, for example. By pressing a button, the paint thickness tester will store this paint thickness as a reference value. Now, by placing the test probe on any part of the vehicle body, you can compare it with this value. You will immediately determine whether parts of the body have been replaces or repainted and if the purchase price is suitable.

The tester runs about $20 from Westfalia.net so it’s not a terribly expensive tool if you’re trying to avoid being ripped off by the stereotypical used car salesman.

[ Paint Thickness Tester ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Evan Ackerman

Also at CPX yesterday I got to take a closer look at the BMW Hydrogen 7 and the Tesla Roadster. We saw them last year at the LA Auto Show, but CPX was casual and laid back and I got to talk with some of the actual engineers instead of PR drones (yay!).

The awesome thing about the BMW Hydrogen 7 is that it’s a production ready car that can use either hydrogen or gasoline. And when I say either, I mean that if you’re driving along using conventional gas and feel like saving the environment for a little while, you just push a button and the car transitions seamlessly into using hydrogen combustion. Unless you listen very, very carefully there is no way to tell that the car is using an entirely different fuel system. This means that you can get hydrogen when and where it’s available but not have to worry about being stranded due to lack of fuel.

Unlike most hydrogen powered vehicles, the Hydrogen 7 uses liquid (as opposed to gaseous) hydrogen, stored in a big tank in the trunk that’s been insulated and cooled down to -418 degrees F. The advantage of this technique is that you can store more hydrogen in a smaller space at a much lower and safer pressure (about 40 psi as opposed to 10,000 psi in cars that use hydrogen gas); the disadvantage is that if you let the car sit, the tank heats up, the liquid hydrogen starts to vaporize, and you gradually lose fuel.

Fuel is of course the big problem in the whole hydrogen car equation. Hydrogen gas comes from two primary sources: natural gas, and electrolysis. Natural gas is not particularly eco-friendly, but electrolysis creates hydrogen from water using nothing but electricity, which we can get from all sorts of renewable sources. It just has to, you know, happen. The current cost of a kilo of hydrogen (equivalent in energy to a gallon of gas) is something like $12. That’s sounds like a lot, but I’m paying $3.95 a gallon out here in California for regular unleaded which sucks for the environment and is backed by a huge production infrastructure that hydrogen doesn’t have yet.

There are currently 20 Hydrogen 7s on the road in the US (out of 100 worldwide), and an additional 2 hydrogen only models. These cars are totally ready to go in that they’ve passed all of the necessary crash tests and stuff; the only thing that has to happen now is that hydrogen has to get cheap enough (or gas has to get expensive enough) that there’s a market for them.

As for Tesla, they’re already producing the Roadster. There was some question a little while back as to what was going to happen with the transmission… The 2 speed transmissions originally designed for the car just couldn’t handle 150,000 miles worth of the massive amounts of torque output by the engine. Although the transmissions will have to be replaced, the first production cars are still shipping with the 2 speed transmission, while the final production cars will have a 1 speed transmission that is not yet off the drawing board. Believe it or not (and I didn’t at first), this won’t have a significant effect on the performance of the car. The engine will be retuned towards the low end, maintaining the sub 4 second 0-60 time, and since the top speed is electronically limited to 125, you won’t notice any difference there either. Interestingly, I was also told that the engine is physically capable of outputting something like double the power that it currently does. ‘Course, making that happen would certainly void the warranty and probably tear the car in half, but I’m confident that someone will figure out how to hack the Tesla Roadster and see just what it can do.

After the jump, I’m going to take a stab at making a gallery of pics of the Hydrogen 7 and Tesla roadster. Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

Someone with the alias of ‘Klee’ has posted a brief guide on the VWvortex Forums of how to use the Wiimote’s built in 3-axis accelerometers to measure g-forces and calculate the 0-60 performance of your car.

So I did. I wrote a script to dump all the g-force readings from the wiimote to a comma separated value file, then did some post processing in MS Excel, and voila, I can see every bump, every curve, my acceleration and braking, and even calculated my current speed using high school physics (v=a*t)

I admit, it’s not super accurate since the wiimote spits out G readings rounded to two decimal places. It also provides other acceleration readings in finer granularity, but I couldn’t figure out what metric it was recording in. I used Gs since I knew it was just the acceleration of gravity (9.8 m/s/s).

Besides the Wiimote itself, all you need is a copy of Glovepie v0.29 (or higher) and a bluetooth dongle with the BlueSoleil human interface drivers. Klee has also provided the Excel spreadsheet document he created, complete with formulas and graphs for crunching and interpreting the numbers.

[ VWvortex Forums - Wii Remote Measurements ] VIA [ MAKE: Blog ]

By Evan Ackerman

In their March newsletter, Aptera is making things sound pretty bright and cheery when it comes to the future of their (let’s face it) revolutionary car-thing. Yesterday they added this video, which doesn’t provide much in the way of new info, but does show some details of the car’s interior:

Also in the newsletter, Aptera promises that they’re “going to be updating you regularly from now until the rollout.” They’re hiring new people, making a new website, and moving into a bigger place, but the meat and potatoes is that they still have to conduct advanced crash testing and refine the manufacturing process before production. Their goal is still to begin production in “late 2008.”

I noticed a few more facts on their website, such as the minimum hybrid mileage of 130 mpg (at sustained highway speeds). Also, the Aptera is classified as a motorcycle (although it doesn’t require any special driver’s license endorsement) but it exceeds safety requirements for a passenger car. Check out the Aptera website for plenty more info.

[ Aptera Newsletter ]

By Evan Ackerman

Back when we first introduced the Aptera, I mentioned that it looked like a space fighter. I guess someone was listening, since this picture shows an Aptera on what is supposedly the set of the new Star Trek movie, at Cal State Northridge’s Oviatt Library.

As long as people realize that it’s not a prop and you can in fact order one, this should certainly be great publicity of Aptera… ‘Course, production on the car is supposed to begin “in late 2008,” a ways ahead of the May 2009 release date for the movie. Who knows, maybe by then the Aptera will be everywhere and nobody will be impressed by the movie cameo. We can only hope.

[ Aptera ] VIA [ Ain't It Cool ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If I was ever in the market for a Ferrari, the 1986 Testarossa would not be high on my list. However if I was ever in the market for a go-kart, you’d better believe this Testarossa would be my first choice. It was originally sold at FAO Schwartz and Neiman Marcus stores and when you look at the specs, the term ‘go-kart’ almost seems like an insult. It’s powered by a 5 HP Briggs & Stratton motor that’s linked to a 2 speed automatic transmission with reverse. While 5 HP can’t compare to what real Ferrari engines put out, it’s still enough to push this 615 pound replica up to 30 MPH.

But it’s the attention to detail that’s most impressive. Opening the hinged doors you’ll find an electric starter, Momo steering wheel, working horn, CD stereo system, gauges, dual adjustable seats and more. Walking around the car you’ll find working retractable headlights and turn signals, independent suspension and even hydraulically operated rear disc brakes.

Since the cars were all hand made in limited quantities, FAO Schwartz and Neiman Marcus originally priced them at over $50,000. So the fact that this one is selling for just $24,900 makes it quite a bargain.

[ 1986 Ferrari Testarossa Go-Kart ] VIA [ Autoblog ]