You know how it is these days – the insane price of oil has driven virtually everything up, save for our salaries. Heck, it used to be dirt cheap filling up cars with gas, and right now at $4 a gallon in most places across the US, motorists are complaining about gas stations being virtual highway robbers as they stop short of taking your firstborn in exchange for a full tank of gas. What are some of the alternatives? A bicycle would be too slow to commute across longer distances, while a motorcycle isn’t environmentally friendly and sips some gas as well. There is always the Ego Street Scoota to save the day – an electric scooter that costs no more than a thousand quid. Can’t believe your ears (and eyes)? Read on then.

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We’ve all been mesmerized by the local news coverage of some bad guy fleeing police in a high speed chase. And like watching car racing and hockey, we just wait for the inevitable crash that will end the pursuit. And soon enough, it comes and the foolish perp is taken away in cuffs while his car is a smoldering mass of twisted metal. But lately, police are catching all kinds of flack for pursuing these car chases at the endangerment of the local populace. Some have even taken to letting the guy go, rather than risk a crash and human lives which result in the inevitable bevy of lawsuits. But now, they can track the bad guy, rather than chase him, with a new projectile GPS transceiver which will allow the helicopter and units monitoring to simply hang back and wait for the perp to get where he’s going.

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When most of us think about new improvements in automobiles, we usually think of better fuel efficiency. However, a recent program by BMW called GINA thinks outside the box by changing the “box” around the car itself.

Simply put, GINA replaces the stagnant metal frame of a car with durable cloth. This cloth is put over a frame, and creates all the stability that is required for a fender, door, or whatever shape is required.

What is really fascinating is that frame can be motorized, so when portions of the frame shift, the car can literally change its shape. For example, the hood opens up by parting like the Red Sea. Even more odd is the covers of the headlights open like eyelids. There is a video after the jump if you want to see this for yourself, and I highly recommend you do.

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Now this is one piece of origami that you will definitely find fascinating, and in the words of the designer, it took “approximately two years to design this spectacular magical art”, and the person has made this knowledge public so you can save two years (or more of your life) trying to figure it out.

This “V12 four-stroke Engine” has semi-realistic exterior and interior detail. Each of 12 spark plugs (LEDs) is ignited accordingly to the moving cycle. Many moveable parts include a compound crankshaft, a rapid cooling fan, 12 rods and 12 pistons etc. It is made with paper entirely (except some little wood sticks, some tapes, 12 LEDs, some electrical wires, 12 switches, a resistor, a motor and a battery holder). The instruction included in this kit is a CD-ROM (a PDF file) contains easy-to follow diagrams and step-by-step instructions with more than a thousand detailed nice and clear pictures. All patterns are printed on high quality acid-free heavy paper, which can last for many years and will not turn brittle and yellow or fades with age. No paint applied. It looks pure and elegant. Various shadows created by different light sources make it look stunning. The origami-reinforced structure is applied in the engine (they will not be seen). The origami-reinforced structures make the model very rigid and keep the pieces in the accurate positions.

Of course, you’ll need some white glue, a sharp knife and plenty of patience to complete this project. Very. Cool.

The other day, I was driving down the road, and I changed lanes. I thought I was far enough away from the other vehicles, but then I heard a loud honk. I quickly realized that the car was a lot closer than I thought it was. Considering that a lot of mirrors have that “objects in mirror are closer than they appear” warning, it makes it too easy to miscalculate the distance of a vehicle in the side view mirrors.

Perhaps this is why Toshiba invented Visconti technology, which allows drivers to see how close other vehicles actually are. The company put this technology on display at the 2008 Automotive Engineering Exposition in Yokohama, Japan. Apparently, Honda is already using this Intelligent Night Vision System on some of their models.

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There are times when I struggle to find ideas for Coolest Gadget articles, but sometimes, one will just appear. This was the case of the Zapcar. One moment I’m watching my kids play on the playground, and then the Xebra Electric Sedan pulls up, just begging to be written about.

Once I saw this unusual three-wheeled car, I had to ask the owners about it. I was very intrigued once they told me that the vehicle was totally electrical, with absolutely no gas or petrol is involved. The owners even opened up the lid where the gas should go on an ordinary car, and all I saw was an ordinary electric socket.

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Outside of Asia, Japan is known for two things; blisteringly cool technology and awesomely tacky gadgetry. In a perfect merger of both of these factors, the people of Japan have whipped out yet another awesome combination of large flashy toys and kitschy art.

Dekotora Trucks are highly customized trucks which the cult Japanese community decks out to look like artsy monsters. You could easily confuse one of these Dekotora trucks as something other than an automotive, yet the brute power behind these pieces is enough to cause geeks to wet themselves with envy.

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I’ve never been the type to use emoticons in my IM messages or emails, but I know some people who cannot stop using them.

So why not use them while you are driving? This is the reason the Drivemocion was invented.

The Drivemocion affixes to the inside of the rear car window via power suction cup. It is operated by a remote control for the front of the car that attaches to the front windscreen. All you need to do is press a button to send simple emoticon messages to motorists.

The Drivemocion comes in several models, which have several options for message displays. For example, the original model has a smiley face, winking face, an “Ooooo” face, plus two words of “sorry” and “thanks”.

That is one of the nicer models. Some of you might be relieved or agitated to know that there is a Drivemocion that allows the middle finger to be displayed. For the sake of the more easily offended readers, such as myself, I have chosen not to show the electronic bird.

The Drivemocion uses 4 AA batteries for power, and last for about 4 months. You should be able to get it for about £24.99 on the Au-my website.

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