Conductor: www.mta.me from Alexander Chen on Vimeo.

Original: MTA.ME

http://www.mueslii.com/

What are cars going to look like in the year 2015? Well, I’m guessing they’re going to look kind of like our cars to day, but maybe a touch more aerodynamic. But hey, what do I know? When asked the same question, Transportation Design students at Turin-based IED (istituto Europeo di Design) came up with something quite a bit different.

The concept design for BMW they came up with looks like it belongs in 2115, not 2015. The BMW ZX-6 Concept by Jai Ho Yoo and Lukas Vanek is full of crazy curves and lines, and while yes, it is more aerodynamic, I’m not sure just how practical it is. But hey, maybe by 2015 we won’t care about practical cars, instead purchasing our vehicles based solely on how crazy they look. If so, this one is a definite winner.

[dvice]

Catering to design-concious urban cyclists who’d rather not sacrifice style for safety, a group of Danish designers ha created a bicycle helmet with interchangeable covers.

Copenhagen-based Yakkay sells a simple shell helmet (dubbed “Smart One”) that’s tucked away under one of ten different covers. The helmet retails at DKK 599 (EUR 80 / USD 120), and the covers are sold for DKK 299 (EUR 40 / USD 60). While chin straps betray their true nature, the helmets otherwise resemble hats and caps worn for fashion, not protection.

Yakkay states that the number of seriously injured cyclists with head injuries is around 2,500 per year in Denmark (on a total population of under 5.5 million). And that’s in a country where motorists are accustomed to cyclists, and where most roads have separate bicycle lanes. As more consumers across the world hop on their bikes to reduce their gas bills, carbon footprints and waistlines, the market for innovative cycling products and services should grow at a healthy pace. One to tap into! Easy way to get started? Ask Yakkay about regional distribution opportunities. (Related: Stylish fire protection kits.)

Website: www.yakkay.com
Contact: info@yakkay.com

Spotted by: Lori Webb

At last week’s EAA AirVenture show in Oshkosh, aircraft startup ICON showed up with their folding-winged A5. On display, one setup showed it being towed, propped on a standard trailer and pulled by a standard vehicle.

The company hopes to appeal to those who’ve always been interested in flying but have felt intimidated by all of its attached responsibilities including licensing (you don’t need a full-out pilot’s license to operate this) and storage (it really can fit in a large garage). And yes, their cockpit resembles a car’s dash in a completely scary/awesome way. The ICON A5 has been flown successfully, but a funny side note—the company announced the plane before testing it in the air. Good thing it works!

[gizmodo]

I remember spying some electric car charging stations in the documentary Who Killed The Electric Car and thinking that they were such a great idea. Then, of course, the electric automobile was effectively killed and such ideas were mothballed. Now, with San Jose pulling the curtain back on its new automobile charging stations, there’s reason to believe again that we’re headed towards a new era of transportation.

The technology on display comes from startup Coulomb Technologies — which is using the city as a testing ground for its new stations. The company’s products include 110-volt outlets that can be outfitted in public and mounted on poles, such as streetlights. As such, they’re designed to scale to a national level, with a projected need of two stations per car, as electricity-powered vehicles grow in popularity and choice. Each one is expected to cost between $1,000-$2,000 for municipalities to install. From the article,

Those at Coulomb Technologies envision a subscription model that would charge a premium for tapping into the grid during peak demand times. They also tout utility grid management technology. The company would provide charging stations with wireless communications, managing a mesh network to authenticate users, and manage energy flow and metering. Users, hosts, and utilities would access GPS-linked data online.

With their partnership with Coulomb, San Jose has become the first city in the U.S. to offer electric-car charging within an existing infrastructure. Now if only there were more cars to take advantage of them, people might be seriously excited. Till then, charging stations can be considered markers of a more sustainable future.

Let’s hope it gets here fast.

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