How Steve Jobs got away with never having a licence plate
Car TechSteve Jobs broke the mould where consumer tech was concerned, but he was also a rebel on the road, riding around in a high-powered Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG sports car that, notoriously, never had a licence plate fitted.
Why Jobs did this and how he got away with it has baffled Apple fans for years, but iTWire thinks it has the answer to at least one of those questions, courtesy of former Apple security employee, and CTO of Entrust, Jon Callas. Continue reading...
Electric Back to the Future DeLorean materialising in 2013
Car TechPetrol? Where we're going, we don't need petrol. That's because plans are afoot to build an electric version of the DeLorean DMC-12 -- the iconic car that starred in the Back to the Future movies.
Choosing to power the new DMC-12 on humble electrical power rather than rubbish, the DeLorean Motor Company has stated on its blog that the car is being built in partnership with electric car startup Epic EV. That post has since been erased from history, but it's not an elaborate hoax -- Jalopnik's Kevin McCauley got to drive one.
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Buick Regal lowrider hops a skipping rope in video
Car TechWe're no strangers to cars with adjustable suspension systems. We've seen just how well they help luxury saloons like the Mercedes-Benz S Class improve ride quality, and how they help supercars get over enormous speed bumps -- but we've never, until this day, seen them help a car hop a skipping rope.
No, don't adjust your eyeballs, you did indeed read that correctly. A car with a modified suspension system has mimicked boxers and 8-year-old girls and played with a skipping rope, and there's video evidence to prove it, as spotted by Autoblog.
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Land Rover TESSA uses exhaust heat to warm your home 
Car TechBuying a massive Land Rover hasn't historically been the best way to reduce your cost of living -- until now, perhaps.
Engineers at Atmos Heating Systems have teamed up with Land Rover to create a prototype Freelander that can power the central heating and hot water supplies in your house using heat extracted from the car's exhaust. Continue reading...
Lotus Ethos electric city car promises pants-friendly motoring
Car TechLotus sports cars are highly impractical things. Simply getting in and out of an Elise, Evora or anything else beginning with an E requires a degree of double-jointed flexibility only Russian gymnasts can muster, not to mention underwear you don't mind flashing to passers-by.
There is one Lotus, however -- a new range-extended electric city car -- that doesn't require you to reveal your undercrackers every time you get in or out. Ladies and environmentally conscious gentlemen -- meet the eco-conscious, spine-friendly, underwear-aware Lotus Ethos. Continue reading...
Environmentally destructive electric car motors to be redesigned
Car TechElectric cars are often lauded as being kind to the environment, but there is a darker, more environmentally harmful side to the creation of these greener-than-thou vehicles, scientists say.
Researchers at Newcastle University have suggested the motors used in cars such as the Mitsubishi iMiev and Nissan Leaf are built using rare-earth metals, the mining of which is incredibly destructive to the environment. Continue reading...
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Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid price is £26,000 after grant
Car TechThe Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid may be several months away from its 2012 release, but it's already headed to the top of our wanted list thanks to some lust-worthy economy figures and a cracking price tag. Yeah, we said 'lust' and 'hybrid' in the same sentence -- deal with it.
The new car will go on sale for £31,000, Toyota recently confirmed. After the £5,000 government electric car grant, this reduces the cost to £26,000, which is in line with -- and in some cases cheaper than -- many other electric cars. Continue reading...
New Fiat Panda has pull-out TomTom Live sat-nav
Car TechThe Fiat Panda has rarely been a car to set people's pulses racing -- quite the contrary in fact. We'd guesstimate the boxy little runabout has been involved in a disproportionately high number of accidents where its drivers have dozed off from sheer boredom.
Luckily there's a new Panda approaching and this time it's been festooned with a bunch of snazzy new tech that'll have you bouncing off the walls with excitement. Continue reading...
New Jensen Interceptor is bringing the 60s back
Car TechThe Jensen Interceptor, the car with the coolest name in the history of cool names, is set to make a comeback.
A new version of the car, which featured heavily in iconic 60s and 70s TV series such as The Sweeney and The Professionals (and other shows where moustaches and flares were crucial) will hit UK streets in 2014. Continue reading...
Denso Resonance sat-nav steers to best deals on Twitter
Car TechIt seems nothing is safe from the often mindless, but occasionally quite useful stream of consciousness that is Twitter. First the social network invaded our computers, then our smart phones -- and in a few years Denso wants it to hop into our cars.
The Japanese electronics firm has developed a simulator that previews its Resonance 2021 information, entertainment and guidance technology. This enables drivers to receive tweets based on events or services occurring in their local area and plots them on its sat-nav. Continue reading...
Photos: Supercars of the Frankfurt Motor Show 2011
Car Tech
The 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show has thrown up all manner of interesting new vehicles. We've seen small city cars like the VW Up, electric runabouts such as the Audi A2 and bonkers off-roaders like the Land Rover DC100 Sport. But screw those -- screw 'em all.
We know the petrolheads amongst you are only interested the supercars, which is why we've papped the living hell out of every single one we came across and stuck them in this gallery. No, you're quite welcome. Continue reading...
Rimac Concept One is a 1,340bhp electric supercar
Car TechThe words 'Croatian', 'electric' and 'supercar' never appear in the same sentence (Google it, you'll get like two and a half results and they're all in 'foreign').
That's all set to change, however, because Rimac, a young Croatian start-up, has recently presented us with -- you guessed it -- an electric supercar. Actually, supercar is probably an insult to the Rimac Concept One -- it's probably best described as a hypercar, Uberride, Monstermotor or whatever the Croatian is for "something that'll eat Zondas for breakfast". Continue reading...
Behind the scenes at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2011 -- day 1
Car TechThe 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show is in full swing. Manufacturers are churning out new cars, journalists are writing about them and punters are salivating over the prospect of driving them in 2011 and beyond, but what's it really like at the show? Read on and we'll fill you in.
The event kicked off with a bang courtesy of Jaguar Land Rover, whose complimentary breakfast champagne and eggs Benedict caused something of a media scrum. Its cars weren't bad either. We heard more than a few hacks saying positive things about the C-X16 concept, DC100 and DC100 Sport, though there's every chance they were a totally boozed up by the time the covers came off the cars. Continue reading...
Mercedes SLS AMG Roadster blows the bloody doors off, drops its top
Car TechMercedes-Benz has done the unthinkable and created a version of the SLS AMG with doors that open normally. It's not all bad news, though, the company has also amputated the car's roof, creating the hugely impressive SLS AMG Roadster.
Usually, when cars have their rooves amputated, they lose rigidity. This forces manufacturers to add strengthening materials that increase a car's weight in the process. Remarkably, though, the Roadster's reinforcements -- which consists of a beam across the dashboard, thicker sills and a strut between the soft top and the fuel tank -- adds a mere 40Kg, less than half a passenger's-worth of lard. Continue reading...
VW GT Up, Cross Up, e-Up, eco Up and Buggy Up are downsized marvels
Car TechVolkswagen has gone Up crazy at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The company has unveiled not one, not two, but six incarnations of its Up supermini, including an electric-only offering and a sporty GT model that uses your smartphone as its sat-nav and stereo.
The all-electric e-Up, confirmed for production in 2013, uses a 60kW electric motor and a fairly generous 18kWh battery pack as its means of propulsion. Combined, the two offer a respectable 85mph top speed and an 80-mile range, making it ideal for boasting about how much money you've saved on short commutes or getting completely stranded on longer ones. Continue reading...
Audi A2 electric beats traffic with autonomous drive, WiFi, laser lights
Car TechAudi's been knocked out more concept electric cars than the queen mother has wrinkles, so it'll come as no surprise to learn the the company has introduced an all-electric version of its A2 at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
This one's arguably more interesting than the company's other EV offerings, however, as it features some fancy new tech including semi-autonomous driving capabilities, on-board Internet access and laser fog lights that project an image onto the road surface. Continue reading...
Land Rover DC100 Sport is a roofless Defender of the future
Car TechLand Rover has dreamed up a gorgeous 21st-century re-imagining of the canvas-roofed Defenders of yesteryear. Behold, mud merchants, the DC100 Sport.
Actually, 21-st century is a bit of an understatement. The DC100 Sport, a topless version of the newly unveiled DC100 concept, packs so much tech it could feature in a James Bond film with absolutely no intervention from Q.
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Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition packs added luxury, Garmin Nav
Car Tech
Aston Martin has been busy this past year, churning out the One-77, Virage, Vantage S and Zagato, but despite its hectic schedule, it's still found a bit of time to tart up its flagship GT cruiser, the DBS.
The company has released a special edition DBS Carbon Edition which features a number of aesthetic and equipment tweaks that make the luxury supercar a tad more desirable. As you can probably guess, the most notable addition is a super-light frigate-load of carbon fibre. Continue reading...
Mercedes F125 concept photos show 3D instruments, 17-inch gesture TV
Car TechMercedes-Benz has been churning out cars for a whopping 125 years and to acknowledge that milestone, the German automaker has cooked up the F125 -- a research vehicle crammed it to the hilt with next-gen technology.
The F125's spec sheet reads like it came from the 23rd century. It features a glasses-free 3D instrument binnacle, a 17-inch monitor that's viewable from a reclining rear seat, a mouse touchpad for controlling the rear-projected sat-nav and the very latest lithium-sulphur battery technology. Continue reading...
Frankfurt Motor Show 2011
Car Tech
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