TheScooterScoop

(Imagine hybrid MP3 with a reinforced roof! Practical? I think so.)

The Progressive Automotive XPrize! In my opinion, this is the most important competition of our lifetime. Sure, it’s great that a team will receive a grand prize of $10M for building a car that gets at least 100 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalency) in real world driving while being safe, affordable and desirable.  BUT, the real winners here are you and I… and our children… and their children.

The XPrize is Generation X’s version of the moon landing.  Think about all the social advancements that the space race brought us!  Ok, Tang… I know there are others, but what I’m trying to say is that the XPrize is a major catalyst for change! The winners of this competition will provide evolutionary genetics to our next generation of transportation!

Knowing the importance of the Automotive XPrize, don’t you think you should participate?  So, you can tell your grandkids “You know why you’re driving that newfangled doohickey?  Because I voted for it!” and they can nod their head and say “SURE you did gramps.”  Well, this is your moment!  You’ve got from now until August 16th to vote for FAN FAVORITE in the MOST PRACTICAL category.  Need MORE incentive?  How about this… Register to vote and every day that you vote you get another chance to win $3000 bucks!  That’s worth it, right?  Voting to tell the builders what would make your future car more practical while getting chances to bank $3k?!

Fan Faves for MOST STYLISH (Zap Alias) and MOST INNOVATIVE (Aptera 2e) have already been chosen… so vote on MOST PRACTICAL now and then MOST WANTED coming up August 17th – September 6th.

AND… as long as we’re talking about voting, K-Way MOTUS sent us a little note and they would love for you to pick their ride (seen above) as most practical.  It’s essentially an MP3 with a roof like a BMW C1, but running on a parallel electric / gas hybrid platform.  You’ve a pair of electric motors in the two front wheels and for the long haul it’s got an 850cc gasoline engine on the real wheel.  The K-Way MOTUS will hold two passengers and in a future incarnation they plan on adding a swivel-out front seat for easy entry & exit.

There are lots of exciting choices, so go register and CAST YOUR VOTE!

***UPDATE***
Oh, we forgot to mention that “The $10 millionprize grand prize will be presented at an Award Ceremony on September 16, in Washington, D.C.”

(Note: Actual scooter excitement greater than it appears in video)
In case you hadn’t heard, Genuine has brought back their Sport Scooter, the Blur (must…stop…typing “Blue”). This time around the Blur SS 220i (as its name suggests) has got the power of a 220cc, fuel injected engine that’ll get you up to around 70 MPH straight out of the box. I’d be interested to see what a performance CVT, CDI and coil might do to this baby and I’m sure we’ll find out in time.  (MSRP $3899)

You can get some first impressions of the Blur from the following, quality websites:
- 2StrokeBuzz
- JustGottaScoot
- More to come

Another good thing about the Blur is that it’s ripe for the pimping!  I wanna do one up in ScooterScoop green!

Ever hear of frog Design? No? Well, have you ever seen the Apple ][c or original Mac? The Wega TV (owned by Sony)? The Yamaha frog 750 motorcycle concept? Are you familiar with Logitech, NeXT, the Sun SPARCstation, the Acer Aspire, Lufthansa, Dell, Microsoft, MTV, Yahoo (*deep breath in*)?  Ah man, there are just to many to mention right here.

Well, frog Design is back on the case with their new design for the ECOtality Blink charging station.  ECOtality was searching for a solution that was simple, friendly and intuitive and I think they’ve hit the nail on the head.  With the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf hitting the roads very soon the infrastructure needs to be in place to promote the progressing flood of electric vehicles.

The two biggest factors in the expansion of electric vehicles are increasingly affordable vehicles and consumers shaking their “range anxiety” and they go hand in hand.  The more comfortable consumers are with their performance, the more likely they are to buy electric vehicles.  The more vehicles they buy, the lower their price gets and the faster their technology grows… increasing their range, lowering their prices, etc, etc.  For more information, check out frog Design’s blog DesignMind.  For more info on how ECOtality is growing, check out this article at Earth2Tech.

Tim loves him some MAKE magazine (as do I) and MAKE loves them some microcars (as do I).  You can go check out their site or go straight to another fave of mine DarkRoastBlend for the titanic gallery of tininess.

Does this still count as a motorcycle?

Most everyone knows that Daelim no longer has representation in the USA.  It’s a long, sad tale… much too long and sad to  go through right now without updating your Zoloft prescription… BUT, if you are one of the downcast Daelim owners looking for parts, Joel Martin may have just what the doctor ordered!  Check out the video, search the site and ask your dealer to get the parts in for ya!