It’s like a cross between Wonder Woman’s invisible jet and Inspector Gadget’s foldable car. The Transparent Kayak is made of a clear military grade urethane that makes the entire hull see-through—very cool for both navigating shallow waters and spotting fish. The Transparent Kayak also weighs a mere 26 pounds (12kg) and folds up to a size small enough to fit into a large hiking backpack, allowing you to carry your cool watercraft to rivers and lakes that aren’t directly accessible by car.
The same company also makes a transparent canoe.
Electric cars are no longer glorified golf cars. Today’s battery-powered vehicles are larger, better looking—and faster. Like the 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-cell.
With a top speed of 160 mph (260 km/h) the E-cell will be the world’s fastest production electronic vehicle once it hits the market. (The current record-holder, the Tesla Roadster, tops out at 191 mph). Four electric motors rocket the AMG E-cell from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds. Thanks to the 526 hp that are available virtually across the speed spectrum, adding another 60 mph to that takes about 4 seconds too. As with all electric cars, the major shortcoming of the AMG E-cell is its range: 125 miles when driving optimally and only 25 miles when using a lead foot.
Is it the start of an automotive revolution? The Nissan Leaf, slated to be the world’s first affordable, five-seat electric vehicle for the everyman† is coming to showrooms starting in late 2010. In the United States you can sign up to lease one for a fully refundable $99 deposit. But would you want to?
Here’s why you might:
The Leaf is a spacious, fun-to-drive vehicle. With maximum torque available at all speeds, the Leaf zips off the line and will send you from 0 to 60 mph in a more-than-respectable 6 seconds. The car has lots of vondrous, high tech features such as remote cell phone controls—on a hot day you can call your Leaf and ask it to pre-cool the car to a particular temperature; the Leaf will send you a text message when it is finished. The economics of Leaf ownership is appealing too. Powering a car through electricity costs a fraction of gasoline. And, of course, the Nissan Leaf is more environmentally-friendly than internal-combustion cars
Here’s why you might want to hold off on your Leaf purchase:
Panda Bicycles can not be ridden by a cute black-and-white spotted bear. But they could be eaten by one. Panda Bicycles, manufactured by a Colorado company of the same name, are the world’s only that are made from steel lugged bamboo. Bamboo being an environmentally-friendly material that’s also strong, shock-absorbing and cool-looking.
The price for these bikes? That isn’t so cool. The one-geared “The One” model lists for US$2,100. “The Legacy” touring bike will set you back even more green, $3,250, or more than it would cost you to fly to China and see a real panda.
