THIRD WHEEL: The Rinspeed Dock+Go is a concept car. The idea is that it uses dockable parts - or, more precisely, dockable rear parts. The dock is a pair of wheels on an axle, with the rear half of a car body. As a demonstration Rinspeed used a 2-seater Smart Car and suggested the dockable addition could contain extra fuel cells, or a toolbox pack for tradespeople, or perhaps a party pack. The car itself is due to be shown off early next year. It's an odd idea, but that's just how Rinspeed rolls.
BULLET POINTS: The Jo-Mojo from Estonian company Dartz is a roadster - an electric two-seater roadster, lightly armoured for your protection. It's an open-top car, with a sliding roof that holds solar panels to help boost the batteries and helps protect the car while parked. Designed for the Cote d'Azur, there should be no lack of sunshine where it's driven. Taking 9.5 seconds to reach 60 mph it's
not going to be anyone's getaway car though. Gizmag has more, and there's video here.
BRAMM BRAMM: It seems electric motorcycles are catching on. The Brammo Empulse uses a liquid-cooled motor to give it a range of up to 160km, at speeds exceeding 160km/h. It'll charge from a US standard 110v outlet, but takes six to eight hours for a full charge. That's a good travel speed, now they need to work on the speed of charging. Popular Science has more.
THE FOLDING: A foldable electric motor scooter? Honda's Motor Compo is less than a metre long and a metre tall. A removable battery could be used as an emergency power source. It's intriguing, at least. Beautiful Life has details.
ROAD CHARGES: Daimler are testing a system of inductive charging for parked electric vehicles. The system is 90% efficient, and also depends on the driver placing the car correctly in the parking spot so the car is centered over the charging coils. Problems to solve include metal left on the road that could heat up, and how to make payment. Surely the payment problem could be easily solved with smartphones and a switching system. Find out more at Technology Review.
