Blog Profile / Wired: Autopia
| URL : | http://blog.wired.com/cars/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Vehicles / Cars | |
| Posts on Regator: | 4345 | |
| Posts / Week: | 16.2 | |
| Archived Since: | April 5, 2008 | |
Blog Post Archive
Tesla Pays Off All $465M in Federal Loans 9 Years Early
Tesla haters just lost another quiver in their dwindling arsenal. The upstart electric automaker has paid off the entirety of its Department of Energy loan -- a whopping $451.8M -- and did it nine years ahead of schedule.
Electrified, Student-Built Karmann Ghia Runs On Tweets
A group of Kansas City high school students and their mentors have electrified a Karmann Ghia, modifying it so that it will only run when it gets mentioned in social media. If that sounds like a publicity stunt, that's because...
Roofless Aston Martin Concept Celebrates 100 Years at 180 MPH
Birthdays call for celebrations. And when you hit 100 years, you deserves something special. That's exactly what Aston Martin created to commemorate its centenary with the CC100 Speedster.
World’s Biggest Hybrid Ferry To Set Sail
A Danish ferry operator has begun converting a diesel-electric ship into a diesel-electric hybrid. When it’s done, it will be the world’s largest hybrid passenger ferry. Scandlines commissioned the retrofit of the Prinsesse Benedikte, a ship that can carry 300...
New Spacecraft Arrives at NASA for Flight Testing
Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser spacecraft is being prepared for its first test flights. The lifting body vehicle arrived at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in southern California today where it will be put back together and begin flight testing...
Airbus Pulls Covers Off New Composite Airliner
Airbus pulled its newest airliner, the A350 XWB, out of the paint booth this week and may well be the big story at the upcoming Paris Air Show. The new airplane, like Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, is made largely of composite...
The Egoist Is Proof Lamborghini Has Lost Its Mind
The crew from Sant'Agata has lost its collective mind. There's no other explanation for the Lamborghini Egoista concept.
After Decades In Service, Amtrak Gets New Locomotives
Amtrak passengers along the Northeast Corridor and in Pennsylvania will start seeing new hardware up front, with brand new locomotives replacing ones that are between 25 and 35 years old.
Take a Look Inside the First Steer-by-Wire Car
Steering wheels, watch your backs. This summer will see the world's first production steer-by-wire car -- the steering wheel talks to a computer, and the computer talks to the wheels. Here's a breakdown of the new system.
Fatal America’s Cup Crash ‘Was Not on the Radar for Any of Us’
Sailors of catamarans — those light, fleet, double-hulled sailboats — accept capsizing as a part of the game and train for flips before they ever grasp a tiller. Without the massive center-weighted keel of traditional monohulled sailboats, catamarans are much...
Finally, An Affordable Electric Vehicle Charger
Electric vehicle prices are coming down, but the cost of chargers has always hovered in the $1,000-2,000 range. That's changing with with the introduction of a residential charger for a scant $450.
Pinpoint Your Car’s Troubling Rattle With a ‘Sound Camera’
It's a common problem encountered by shade-tree mechanics. You can hear the noise inside the engine bay, but you can't figure out where it's coming from. That's where a sound camera comes in.
What Went Wrong In the Deadly America’s Cup Crash
The deadly crash on San Francisco Bay does not appear to be a problem with the crew, but with the engineering of construction of the highly powerful, but remarkably skittish, boats that will contest the America's Cup later this summ...
The Boat That Could Sink the America’s Cup
Larry Ellison planned the biggest, fastest and most exciting yacht race in history. Then Team Oracle wrecked one of his massive catamarans in San Francisco Bay, showing just how fragile the big boat, and the event itself, really is.
Volkswagen Makes a Bonkers Supercar Out of a Hatchback
This is what happens when you give the Wolfsburg brain trust an unlimited budget and tell them to build a concept car for a tuner show: Utter. Madness. It’s called the “Design Vision GTI,” and the 500-horsepower beast of a...
Porsche Puts Two More Nails in the Manual Transmission’s Coffin
Porsche has introduced two new 911s – its flagship Turbo and track-focused GT3 – with a glaring omission in the options list: A manual gearbox.
With New Taxes, EV Owners Begin to Pay Their Fair Share
Electric vehicles use the same roads, the same bridges and the same infrastructure as the rest of us. But because they don't burn gasoline, they're immune from paying taxes at the pump to fund that infrastructure. That's going to change.
Tesla Turns First Profit, Delivered 4,900 Model S Sedans
It's official. Tesla has returned its first profitable quarter after 10 years in the business, following promises that it would be in the black in 2013.
New Breed of Classic Sailing Yachts Automate the Crew
The latest pleasure boats allow sailors to take to the water with a crew of just one, with sails that can move at the touch of a button.
Springs Replace Spokes in New Shock-Absorbing Bike Wheel
The bicycle wheel hasn't evolved much in the past few hundred years. But a new design cushions bumps with an in-board suspension that promises to save weight, space, and even your behind.