From China comes the Wheego Whip, a bite-sized plug-in car that’s scheduled to reach U.S. shores in May for $19,000. You’ll find it at dealerships that carry major brands such as Honda, Toyota, Chevrolet, Saturn and Suzuki; the maker hopes to find 50 dealers who will carry the Whip. I’ll be damned if this doesn’t look a lot like the Smart Fortwo, but this one’s electric. With a top speed of 60 miles per hour, it can travel up to 50 miles for each charge. On the downside, the Whip won’t immediatley enjoy some of the liberties of gas guzzlers, being relegated to the speed-restricted “Neighborhood Electric Vehicle” status until possibly 2010. It also has to wait for a government crash rating before it can drive faster than 35 miles per hour. [AutoBlogGreen via DVice]

If you’re in the market for a new ride to impress the ladies, chances are Tazzari hasn’t made your short list. However, if you’re looking to drop the jaw of a new class of woman–savvy, sophisticated and environmentally-conscientious, maybe it should be. The Tazzari Zero is one Italian beauty that won’t dog  0-60 in 3.5 seconds; in fact, it won’t even hit 60, since it tops out at 56 MPH. However, it does operate entirely on electricity shrinking your carbon footprint and saving some serious money on the ever-fluctuating cost of gas. The Li-Ion Fe battery will transport you 88 miles on a full charge, which takes 9 hours to complete. The vehicle weighs just 1200 lbs and is designed for urban transport, which is clear given its low top speed and acceleration (0-30 at around 5 seconds). For the time, the Zero will only be available in Europe and the Caribbean with a price tag of 20,000 Euros. It’s a nice development in the world of eco-friendly vehicles, regardless. [Autobloggreen]

Do not mess with the Swedish Navy. By the end of this year, the country will put into service the world’s first two stealth corvettes. Instead of typical propellers, these Visby-class ships use waterjet propulsion, which draws water from under the boat and spits it out the back. That, combined with a non-magnetic hull made of flat surfaces and sharp edges, renders the ships electronically invisible at more than 13 km (0.8 8 miles) in rough waters and more than 22 km (1.37 13.7 miles) in calm conditions. The Swedes started working on the project more than 20 years ago, when the country saw a rash of submarines snooping around in their waters. Those subs better think twice now or they’ll never see what hit ‘em. [Naval-Technology via Gizmodo]

With a fully electric-powered car lined up for a fall release, it seems the designers at Aptera are moving on to watercraft. The Loon — currently in the design phase — is actually a redesign of the Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Company’s existing solar-assisted vehicle of the same name. Measuring 22 feet long and reaching speeds of 7 knots, this pontoon boat includes all sorts of eco-friendly material in its construction, such as bamboo, natural fibers and recycled plastic. The 1000W roof is collapsible, making for easy storage. Best of all, the Loon feeds back into the power grid once its AGM battery is filled. There’s no word on price in this early stage, but given Aptera’s penchant for designing affordable green vehicles, perhaps the Loon will sell for less than your average yacht. [AutoBlogGreen via Engadget]

This video warms my heart and makes me think there’s hope for humanity after all. It’s a water-powered jetpack, tethered to a pump that keeps the H20 flowing. And the guy in the video looks totally pleased with its smooth operation, yet he’s also calm and collected. I’d be flipping out; it is a jetpack, after all. Sure, it doesn’t have the limitless possibility of a fuel-powered pack, but it also avoids the risk of a fiery death. Where can one acquire this great invention and how much does it cost? It’s not clear, but if we get vocal enough maybe some cunning manufacturer will answer our prayers. [GizmoWatch via Dvice]

What was once merely a pipe dream has taken a big step toward reality.  The Aptera 2e has been officially slated to roll off the production line this fall.  We initially revealed Aptera’s earlier prototype, the Aptera Typ-1, in December of 2007, suspecting that this concept was just too good to be true.  The Aptera 2e, like the Typ-1, is an all-electric, three-wheeled two seater with a range of 100 miles per charge.  It will be priced between $25,000 and $45,000 when it hits, with an internal-combustion hybrid version suggested for later release.  This is great news for the green auto world, and even better news for us rabid futurists at GearCrave…  [aptera, image via wired]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/M3RUtJhhxPg" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Having grown up in the Detroit area, I came from a car family. My Father was an auto designer, his brother was an auto designer, my cousins were designers, and if my other family members didn’t work in design, they still worked for one of the big three. Growing up in an environment where cars were a way of life, I was privy to some very cool things which led to develop my own interest in automobiles and design at the same time. One of them is the video you’ve seen above. At three years of age, I remember watching this film on videocassette with family, over and over, sharing the excitement of a city-wide cannonball. If Steve McQueen is the King of Cool, filmmaker Claude Lelouch is the Emporer of Ice. His film “C’était un rendez-vous” not only got him arrested after its first publication, it later forced him to betray the identity of the mystery driver in the film, whom Lelouch protected as a “professional Formula 1 racer”. Turns out, it was Lelouch himself who drove through the streets of Paris with a reckless abandon. What makes this video even more complete– is to find out what he’s in such a hurry for at the end… Enjoy the video, GearCravers, as I have enjoyed it for more than 25 years.

Update- More info on this film can be found on Wikipedia, yet as I point out in the comments I highly doubt the audio for this film was overdubbed… Feel free to suggest otherwise, I could be wrong!

The Audi R8 is a perfectly balanced, supremely designed, all-wheel drive sports car. It’s sleek layout is complemented with a 420 hp V8 4.2L FSI engine and rear-biased quattro(R) all-wheel drive system. A 4.4 second 0-60 time and a top speed of 187 mph proves it’s no slouch. The interior is equally as impressive and Audi’s flat-bottomed steering wheel is the perfect touch. Audi offers two transmissions, the six-speed manual or the six-speed R-tronic. The R-tronic transmission can be controlled using paddles on the steering wheel, capping off it’s super-car feel. Options include carbon-fiber “sideblade” exterior styling panels, a Bang & Olufsen premium stereo, a navigation system and upgraded napa leather. As if it couldn’t get any better, it’s priced far below the competition.

Buy: from $109,000.

Chinavision presents the Cassette MP3 player. This standalone requires a 2-gig SD card, is USB-rechargable like any other player, but has one major difference; it can also be inserted into a cassette deck so you can play MP3s on old-school car stereos! Craziness from Chinavision, with a price that is a big middle finger to Apple. Still want to be that old-school guy with the ghetto blaster? Now you can keep the 80s look and stay digital. A nice innovation for painters, classic car geeks, anybody else who still has a tape player in use for some strange reason. We know you’re out there. . .

Buy for $21.00