vehicles

The military-industrial complex is moving double-time to get tough new vehicles to troops in Iraq.

The MRAP (Mine Resistant Armored Protection) vehicles are on a mission to provide a better shield against roadside bombs. They achieve that protection in part through a V-shaped undercarriage that rides high off the ground. In terms of overall strength, they fall somewhere between up-armored Humvees (which were never intended to provide much in the way of armor) and the thicker-skinned M2 Bradley fighting vehicle.

While they can't defend against all types of explosives, they have proven effective against shaped charges designed to pierce … Read more

Where can you find some primo vintage desert footwear, a discussion of probability algorithms, and a solar-powered robotics operation? Why, it's Crave's slideshow of 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge entrants!

DARPA's 2005 Grand Challenge was a 132-mile Nevada desert race of autonomous vehicles. This year's Challenge is focused on urban operations--navigating a four-way intersection, performing pretty involved street driving moves--all without a human operator. How much time, manpower, equipment, research and programming does it take to teach a car how to drive itself? Read the story.

Seriously though, check out the boots on that dude from the … Read more

Not everyone's gadget craving can be satiated by Hello Kitty pirates or Barbie MP3 players. If you've ever wondered what military folk dream of finding under their Christmas trees, you might wander the aisles of the Navy Opportunity Forum being held this week in Arlington, Va.

This year's show featured all sorts of unmanned aerial vehicles that can be used to fly (or swim) up ahead to check out potentially dangerous areas while their human operators stay at a safe distance.

Let's not delude ourselves. These things don't come cheap. This one, from Lite Machines, … Read more

Hybrid cars? Blah. Three-wheeled-cars? Blah. Three-wheeled hybrid cars? Blah.

Tilting three-wheeled hybrid cars? Now that's worth craving. Venture Vehicles has unveiled plans for its VentureOne, a two-seat plug-in three-wheeler with a glass canopy roof that can out-accelerate a Porsche Boxster, and gets 100 miles to the gallon. If that's not enough to get you reaching for your checkbook (estimated price is less than $20,000), then this might be: The VentureOne's passenger compartment and front wheel tilt when cornering for that authentic motocross experience.

The VentureOne will come with three engine choices: two gasoline-electric hybrids and one … Read more

Announced today at Demo 07, security company Inilex is launching its own GPS car security system. Like competitor Lo Jack's early warning system, Inilex has a GPS hardware unit that's installed in your vehicle and alerts you if your car is moving when you're not in it. The unit also lets you know how fast your car is going. You can secure your vehicle via phone or a Web-based interface. What's really cool is that Inilex has created a way to make your own perimeters called "geo fences." Going outside of or (in some … Read more

General Motors is has developed an alternative alternative vehicle. The Los Angeles Times is reporting today that GM has developed a prototype of a new kind of electric car that uses an internal combustion engine solely as an electric generator. Scheduled to be unveiled early next year, the car will run on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that will be supplemented by electricity generated from an onboard gasoline- or diesel-powered motor when the charge runs low.

According to the Times, the car would require charging on a daily basis with each charge delivering a range of 20 to 30 miles, after which … Read more

Another way to have the date of a lifetime in Rome while saving on gas.

The Vectrix Electric Maxi-Scooter, as the tree huggers at Treehugger.com pointed out, will debut this November at the 64th International Motorcycle Exhibition in Milan.

The electric scooter, which runs on a rechargeable nickel metal hydride battery, gets 70 miles to the charge, and does a top speed of 63 mph, according to Vectrix specs.

I am sure plenty of urbanites will take to scooter, but who is Vectrix hoping to reach with these marketing photos? The guy in the Saville Row suit looks like … Read more

Think hand-powered boats are for sissies? Do you mock all those crunchy, neoprene-wearing outdoorsy types (like me) who smugly paddle around in their long, skinny, quiet kayaks?

Then you'll want to make friends with the dude who built this, the first engine-powered kayak. This thing apparently took two years to outfit with a stunningly environmentally unfriendly two-stroke engine. The TravelGearBlog found this video of the boat racing a British rally truck in Iceland.

(Via TravelGearBlog via TopGear)

But does it come with a doughnut holder?

As the Segway struggles with various problems, upstart T3 Motion is targeting a pedestrian-alternative rival at local police departments. The three-wheeled T3 Series, according to Edmunds.com site Inside Line, made its debut at the International Association of Chiefs of Police convention in Boston last weekend.

The "environmentally friendly" vehicle, which runs on two lightweight rechargeable batteries that can be exchanged in the field, has been tested on the mean streets of tourist-packed Catalina Island off the coast of L.A. "Equipment includes an integrated LED lighting system, sirens, … Read more