Biking the Web with Yamaha.

• If the robust HyperBike is the bicycle equivalent of a Hummer, then the high-tech Yamaha Bobby is the BMW one.

Yamaha Bobby concept bike connects to the Internet.(Credit: Yamaha)

• The Bobby prototype from Yamaha Motor is an electric bicycle that lets riders connect to the Internet. Ubergizmo pointed out that the bike can also be turned on and off from select cell phones.
• Bobby is one of 19 concept bikes Yamaha Motor plans to show at the 2007 Tokyo auto show. The Bobby is part of Yamaha's "Art of Engineering" theme for this year's show, according to Yamaha.
• Yamaha Motor also seems to be partnering to build a motorcycle engine for a Toyota, according to earlier reports.

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Photos: 2008 Infiniti EX35

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(Credit: CNET Networks)

Japanese car makers continue to keep us in work here at CNET car tech. Just when you thought that today's models had as much gadgetry onboard as possible, along comes Infiniti with its 2008 EX35, a model that introduces two brand new car technology features. The EX35 is the first production car to come with Around View Monitor, a camera-based parking aid that gives drivers a top-down surround view of the car and any obstacles in its vicinity. It is also the first car in the United States to come with a nonemergency active safety feature in the form of its Lane Departure Prevention (LDP) system, which builds on the Lane Depature Warning (LDW) of earlier Infiniti models by using a combination of cameras and ABS inputs to keep drivers in their lane on the freeway. The EX35 also comes with a barrage of entertainment tech and a paint job that apparently heals itself from scratches. Oh, and it packs some pretty peppy performance credentials, too. Check out our photos of the crossover space-age tech mobile here.


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The Cadillac of golf carts, literally

(Credit: SkyMall)

Let's say you want to impress your golfing buddies but are afraid of accidentally doing bodily harm to them with a mini-Hummer. There's another way to state your machismo, with the "Berline Cadillac Escalade Golf Cart."

It's actually a little cheaper than the Hummer too--if $13,995 can be called cheap at any juncture, that is, for a golf cart. That buys you "a hand-laid fiberglass body, marine-grade vinyl seats, custom paint and chrome mirrors," according to Uncrate, though a custom hard top will cost more.

The Escalade cart is electric despite its SUV appearance, so it's a fair compromise without going the full solar-powered route. And you won't make a complete fool of yourself tooling around in one, as long as you stay on the golf course.

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Start-up promises to slash the costs of plug-in hybrids

EnerDel says it will come out with a lithium-ion battery for plug-in hybrids that will cost $1,500, a development that could go a long way to making these cars palatable in terms of price.
The Indianapolis-based company, which recently received a $6.5 million grant from the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC), hopes to deliver the battery to car manufacturers for their 2010 lineups, according to Charles Gassenheimer, vice chairman of the company. The 2010 model cars will start coming out in September 2009, he said.

By then, there will probably be 65 hybrid cars on the market, he estimated. Right now, there are 15, he said. No major manufacturers currently make plug-in hybrids. Plug-ins have larger batteries than conventional hybrids, can be charged through a socket and get better gas mileage. However, they cost a lot at the moment. Converting a hybrid to a plug-in costs about $15,000, money that even plug-in hybrid proponents admit is nearly impossible to make up for with better fuel economy.

"You're not going to spend thousands of dollars to save $600 to $700 at the pump a year,"
Gassenheimer said. "Until you make this a positive return on investment, you won't see these (plug-ins) at 50 to 80 percent penetration."

EnerDel will mostly aim at selling batteries to manufacturers to incorporate into cars coming off the line and not aftermarket modifiers.

How much cheaper will an EnerDel-energized plug-in hybrid be compared to a regular one? It's hard ... (Read more)