The Gadgets Page

If you aren’t quite fit enough to ride your bike to work and live within 18 miles, you can go with this electric bike option from Mongoose. Mike and I saw it the other day at Shopko for less than three hundred dollars, so for just a small investment, you can have transportation to work.

Here is a close up of the motor. It plugs into a wall and is supposed to take you between 15-18 miles on a single charge. While you’re working your way up to being able to do it yourself the whole way, this little motor can help you up hills or get that last mile in.

Here is a close up of how the chains are attached. The motor has a gear on one side and your pedals have the gear on the other side. It’s a very efficient setup. You can’t beat the gas mileage! When gas prices are so high right now, the idea of limiting my dependence on my car is very appealing. For only $280, I can have another option and so can you!

You can find out more about the bikes on Mongoose’s website:

• Mongoose.com – Electric Bikes

I love it when rumors fly. I like to catch them with a butterfly net and put them all into one big cage. You are looking at a teaser that Volkswagen has released for the VW Atacama. It was based on their Crafter model, which is competition for the Sprinter. That means it has the body of a van that is meant to trek across the city delivering flowers or medical supplies.

It is also rumored to be an off-roading vehicle. With a 2.5L 5-cylinder turbo diesel (164 horse-power), a 6-speed transmission, and 285/55 R 20 off-road tires, it might be good enough for some of the easier trails. Whether it can tackle off-road trails rated above a four probably depends more on the driver than the vehicle. It looks a little top-heavy, though, so I wonder how it would perform.

Finally, there are rumors floating around that it is also a camping van. Any hippies who are fondly reminded of the Westfalia-converted camping vans made by Volkswagen can drool over the Atacama as much as they want. Volkswagen is keeping mighty tight-lipped about the features that are available if they ever put this vehicle into production.

In fact, VW has really dropped the ball on this. Their website for the U.S. doesn’t mention the Atacama at all, even as a teaser advertisement. If you type “Atacama” into their search field, it returns no results. That’s not the case for Google, however. People are talking about this van and they’re excited. Why would VW lose out on that buzz?

Here is where some of the buzz came from (there was so much, I just linked to the first few entries):

• VW Crafter Atacama Concept – Autoblog

• Camper Van Beethoven: VW Reveals Atacama Concept – Jalopnik

• Straightline – VW Atacama concept

• Volkswagen Crafter Atacama Concept

• Atacama VW concept van sees light of day news story in Cars – Pocket-lint.co.uk

The media seems to think that the electric car market is heating up. I actually started to get excited when I started reading about the new electric cars that are being designed and marketed lately.

Unfortunately, they still suck. I don’t need much in a car. It doesn’t need to be really cool or go super fast. I need a car to run around town and get me out of town when I’m sick of it here. In short, I need a car that can get me to Vegas in a single day. According to Google Maps, that’s 419 miles. EVERY new electric car on the market and being conceived falls short of that simple criteria. Oh yeah, I refuse to pay more for a car than a house.

Of the cars listed in the USA Today article above, here is how they compete:

Tesla:

• Top Speed: 130 mph

• Acceleration: 0 to 60 in 4.0 seconds

• Range: 250 miles

• Cost: $100,000

• Energy Consumption: 177 WHr/mile in urban use, equivalent to 150 mpg

Wrightspeed:

• Top Speed: 112 mph (electronically limited)

• Acceleration: 0 to 60 in 3.0 seconds

• Range: 200 miles

• Cost: $100,000

• Energy Consumption: 200 WHr/mile in urban use, equivalent to 170 mpg

Zap Xebra:

• Top Speed: 40 mph

• Acceleration: not stated

• Range: 40 miles

• Cost: Under $10,000

• Energy Consumption: not stated

Obvio 828E:

• Top Speed: 120 mph

• Acceleration: 0 – 60 in 4.5 seconds

• Range: 240 miles

• Cost: $49,000

• Energy Consumption: not stated

GEM – E4:

• Top Speed: 25 mph (electronically limited)

• Acceleration: not stated

• Range: 30 miles

• Cost: $9,695

• Energy Consumption: not stated

Some of these cars seem to be merely glorified golf carts. Others clearly don’t even exist yet. So far, my favorite is the Obvio 828E, but it’s not available. By the time it is, it may be that a better company will have developed an electric car that can get me to Vegas on one charge. Until then, I’m still waiting until electric cars stop sucking.

Via: USATODAY.com – Electric cars lighting up again

Weird Al’s new song, White and Nerdy, prominently features a Segway in its video. Just when I thought that Segways were going the way of horse-drawn carriages and had been relegated to tourist traps, Weird Al blows them right into the public eye again.

I found this article quite a while ago. Steven Jones took the time to write down his thoughts about living with his Segway for a year. He has talked to hundreds of people on his streets and answered as many questions. He shares some of the dumbest with you:

• TechLore.com – One Year With Segway – Reflections and Recollections

He comes off as a sarcastic jerk when you read his Dumbest Questions section, but it’s an interesting article and a good explanation of why his very expensive Segway is actually better than your inexpensive bicycle.

Via: One Segway User’s Reflections and Recollections after One Year @ Alice Hill’s Real Tech News – Independent Tech

Just when I had my heart set on a Smart Car, India comes up with an even cuter electric car for the city:

• The REVA Electric Car Company – Home Page

I love this little car, but it’s not available in the United States. After designing my Reva with my favorite colors and choices, I clicked on the “Buy this Reva” button, but it assumed I lived in India, giving me only choices for Indian cities.

I am really drawn to the efficient and small cars that are available all across the world, but haven’t hit the states yet. I especially enjoy some of the marketing. Look at this picture of the mother and her two children. The car might be small, but it’s big enough to pack in two grade-school kids with Mom and Dad.

Why haven’t the American car companies jumped on this bandwagon? Do they assume that we enjoy gas-guzzling? I can’t wait until the small car phenomenon hits the United States!

Via: Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women

With a name like Fusion, I imagined an alternative energy car with a futuristic style. Instead, I found a boring sedan with only 32 mpg. I get better gas mileage from Mike’s 10 year old VW GTI.

• Ford Vehicles: 2007 Ford Fusion

Because gas prices are so high now, I really expect more from a car. I want a hybrid or an electric vehicle next time around. I’m looking, but I haven’t found one that really appeals to me.

Where is my electric car that can take me to Las Vegas or San Francisco?

Car manufacturers tell us that the new RFID key systems are theft proof. They are so secure in this knowledge that insurance companies refuse to pay for claims when a car with this system is stolen. Are they really that secure? Wired Magazine says no.

• Wired 14.08: Pinch My Ride

The RFID systems disable the engine so theives can’t steal them. It sounds unbreakable, right?

“The carmakers are calling these passive antitheft systems, but they’re not,” says Rob Painter, a Milwaukee-based forensic locksmith who has testified in dozens of auto insurance court cases, for both sides. “They are just theft deterrents. Tell me a car can’t be stolen and I’ll show you how to do it.”

When we bought our VW vehicles, I remember feeling a sort of inpenatrable safety regarding them. They would only start with our keys, I thought. That’s not so. There are multiple ways to steal cars with this safety feature. Now that our cars are over six years old, we have another safety feature: no one wants them.

Driving a piece of sh*t car is the best passive antitheft system around.

Trevor Blackwell has built his own self-balancing scooter that works like a Segway.

• Building a Balancing Scooter

He insists that it’s easier than you might think to build a scooter like this, bragging that the code controlling the gyroscope is only 500 lines long.

“Although the Segway has several exotic components, mine is built from common low-tech parts like wheelchair motors and RC car batteries. The parts, even at small quantity retail prices, cost less than half of a genuine Segway.”

Of course, a Segway has been made consumer safe with all sorts of fail-safes to keep you from hurting yourself. His version may not be as safe.

“There is one very important difference between what can be built as an experiment and the commercial Segway: The commercial one has a lot of safety features, redundancy and fool-proofing. Mine has none whatsoever (Well, it does have a kill switch so it doesn’t go zooming away if I fall off, and it does shut down if it finds itself tipped more than 45 degrees.) This is pretty darn important, and you should think about it very carefully before considering building such a thing yourself. With a scooter like this, if it stops working for any reason (software crash, hardware failure, low battery) you will fall, hard, and probably on your face.“

In the end, I think a bike would be better. My bike can go way faster than a scooter and no one will stop me and ask me about it.

I remember the electric car. Dilbert drove one in his animated sitcom. He was never able to drive it quite as well as Dogbert was able to. It was an early adopter thing that never really made it to my hometown.

This movie tells you why.

The only thing that bothers me is that electric cars get their energy from somewhere. In this case, you plug them into your home’s current and charge them up. Where does that electricity come from? It’s not free, you know. How do most local municipalities generate their electricity?

By burning coal and natural gas.

Sure, some cities generate electricity by harnessing the power of water or wind, but most cities put pollutants into the air to generate their electricity. I don’t see how an electric car is any better than a “gas-guzzling” version. The only difference is that you don’t personally see the effects of electricity generation unless you take a tour of your local electrical generation plant.

If you really care about the environment, buying an electric car, hybrid car or any other powered vehicle isn’t the answer. It might make the problem a little less bothersome, but it’s not a solution.

The solution isn’t a simple one:

• Find a job within five miles of your home or find a home within five miles of your workplace: Commuting accounts for a large percentage of driving.

• Ride a bike or walk to work: Human energy is a renewable source and it’s healthy for you.

• Shop for groceries at local stores that are also within walking or bike-riding distance: If the prices at the local stores are more expensive than the larger stores further away, it’s still worth it. We always forget to account for gasoline when we price compare.

• Consider your car to be for emergencies: If you consider your car to be used only in emergencies, then you will reduce your dependence on it. I would rather walk to the grocery store and ride my bike to work than fund this oil industry any more than I have to.

Strike a blow for independence by declaring independence from the oil industry. It seems to be more of a dictator than we realized.

“True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt

For the second time this year, the Smart Car has shown up in a major American film.

In this case, it looks like it’s used as a comedic element because Woody Allen is frantically driving it to save Scarlett from Hugh Jackson. Suddenly, the Smart Car is a movie star. It’s the car of choice to get out of tight situations like running away from the Parisian Police in The DaVinci Code and saving the day.

Currently, the Smart Car isn’t available in the United States. There is one company, however that is converting Smart Cars to meet U.S. standards:

• ZapWorld.com – ZAP Smart Car

Not since the VW Beetle has a car been this exciting. Also, like the original Beetle, the engine is rear-mounted. It is NOT an electric car or a hybrid. It is a 60 horse power, 3-cylinder engine with 6 speed transmission (automatic or manual). Unfortunately, most of the dealerships that are selling these converted Smart Cars are charging between $22,000 and $29,900. At that price, they are no longer the economical cars that Europe has come to love. They’re pricey show cars.