No this isn’t a movie script, but it sure reads like one.  On Tuesday September 30, an armored car robber used Craigslist and an inner tube to make his getaway.  The man pepper sprayed an armored car guard as he was making a drop at the Monroe Washington Bank of America.  He took a “large sum of money”, according to police, and floated down the river on an inner tube.  So where does Craigslist come into play here?  Keep reading …

Police and security departments are being hit hard by high gasoline prices, but an electric trike from T3 Motion promises to solve that problem.  The stand-up people mover zips around at up to 25 MPH and can hold up to 450 lbs (rider + gear).  We first covered Costa Mesa, California-based T3 Motion last year and the company has since improved the design.  The shell is made of a new plastic and you can add a detachable ballistic shield to the front of the trike.  “I’m not sure of the bullet resistance rating, but it can take some serious projectiles,” Jeff Simpson, T3 Motion’s marketing manager, told us at the Alternative Car Expo in Santa Monica.

A father and son team from Oregon, Charley and Chuck Greenwood, believe they have reduced a car to what is absolutely necessary to get around town and ended up with the HumanCar. But perhaps this idea may be going just a bit too far.

Electric cars are usually pretty boring vehicles, but a Santa Monica inventor is trying to change all that with his Lola-EV custom car.  At first glance, the car looks sporty, almost Tesla-ish, but if you want to drive this thing, you have to build it.  The car is sold as a kit and you have to supply your own batteries, but what you get in the end is a pretty nice machine that can go 75 MPH for 100 miles on a single charge.

How would you like to ride a motorcycle in your backyard without pissing off your neighbors?  That’s exactly what a new electric motorcycle from Zero Motorcycles claims to do as it combines the power of a dirt bike with quiet power from lithium-ion manganese batteries.  The bike is also much lighter than regular motorcycles making it great for beginners and those who don’t want to literally tear up the trails.

Researchers at Temple University have created a $200 device which makes diesel engines look far more attractive. It is a fuel thinner which creates smaller droplets: When injected into a diesel engine they burn more efficiency. Studies show fuel economy increasing by 19% in regular automobiles while, at the same time, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. A Mercedes-Benz 300D sedan saw a 19% increase in highway driving, from 32 mpg to 38 mpg. A 15% increase was seen in city driving. But, is another diesel additive really what we need?

Want an all-electric car that will make the girls shout, “oh it’s so cute”? At the Alternative Car Expo in Santa Monica over the weekend, we spotted this very blue Mini Cooper that has been converted by Electrorides Inc out of Laguna Niguel California. The all-electric car can travel approximately 120 miles on a single charge and can reach 85 miles-per-hour. And this thing isn’t a slouch in the power department because it can go from 0 to 60 mph in 9 seconds.