Finally, an iPhone you can drive around. Recently, at the Shanghai Auto Show in China, Volkswagen introduced their newest model called the iBeetle, which is the first model with a newly developed iPhone docking station and application interface. Essentially, it is the first automobile fully integrated with the smartphone.

This marriage of Apple and Volkswagen is certainly not new. The Beetle, which was first designed in the early 30s by a famous German führer and then became a symbol of hippies and flower power in the 1970s, made a come back in the early 2000s after a long decline in popularity and immediately a kinship was recognized between the computer corporation that “thought differently” and “the people’s car.” If you think about it, it’s a match made in consumer heaven.

Yet, the new iBeetle is more a shiny gimmick than anything else – more of an attempt of two companies trying to piggy back on each other and make stock holders giddy.

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There have been plenty of swings and misses in the history of gadgetry and this is definitely one of them. Do we really need something else to distract us while we drive?

The Smack Attack, invented by a guy named Gregor “G-Man” Hanuschak, is a slip on cover that essentially turns your steering wheel into a drum machine. Hanuschak doesn’t know it yet, but he is about to inadvertently kill scores of teenagers who think it’s cool to beat on their steering wheels going 75 in the fast lane.

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A battery powered race ready dirtbike? This is Heresy!

As a longtime rider of all things with knobby tires, the whole idea of not seeing a gas tank hurts my brain, but the guys at BRD Motorcycles have seemingly created a more than capable alternative to the sweet sound of a finely tuned gas burner.

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Cars can run on a plethora of alternative fuels – corn, electricity, grease, garbage, and that stuff we breath called, air – its just that the petrol mafia and car companies have taken over forcing us to deplete the earth and conquer nations just for that black gold. As history has proven, we aren’t the most alternative species – we like war and we like money, a lot. But now that the ocean and our very own sky is trying to kill us after a good century of pumping emissions and waste into it, people are slowly starting to demand something new.

Introducing “Hybrid Air” by PSA Peugeot Citroën, a new technology they hope to implement in their vehicles by 2016, that combines the gasoline internal combustion engine with compressed air storage technology. Basically, you’ve got yourself a two engine setup, one regular engine that takes good old fashion gasoline and a hydraulic motor that’s powered by compressed air.

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In the future, everything will exist in “the cloud” – wherever that is. But lucky for owners of older car models, automotive electronics maker Delphi introduces a car-to-cloud/cloud-to-car connectivity service to do everything from to unlock the doors, to check on the oil and even record gas mileage for those pesky, cheap bosses. Yes, just like video killed the radio star, smartphones are killing OnStar.

The Vehicle Diagnostics by Delphi plugs right into the OBD-II port, which has been under the dashboards of U.S. vehicles since 1996. The system operates through a downloadable Delphi smartphone app so you can monitor your car from Android based smartphones and iPhones.

You can also check things out on the Delphi “Connected Car” website, which is useful for those especially strict parents, because you can supervise and restrict your children’s driving habits by designating up to six circular “fences” around locations where drivers are permitted to travel and will issue alerts when the vehicle enters or exits a fenced area.

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The all new BMW i3 Concept Coupe, which is slated for some form of release in late 2013, is a serious game changer in the automotive industry for a couple of reasons. Responding to the large demand of consumers hungry for a luxury electric coup, the BMW i3 is the German automotive maker’s first all electric vehicle. That’s ALL electric… not hybrid.

For the nearly 95-year-old car company, who has built an entire heritage and brand image based on gasoline powered racing beauties that hug the road like a high-octane dream, the i3 is an enormous leap to try and win the heart of a rapidly changing demographic. Will they succeed is a question that won’t be answered for sometime.

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The Tesla Model S four-door sedan is the first COTY winner in the 64-year history of the Motor Trend Car of the Year Award not powered by a gas-guzzling internal combustion engine.

The technology of batteries is catching up to the needs of a world desperate to escape gas-dependency, and the Tesla Model S has the Panasonic cells with nickel-cobalt-aluminum cathodes to run a 465 HP AC Induction engine. This baby has some serious junk in that 4700-plus pound trunk.

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Ever wish you could jump into a car that knows you as personally as some of your best chums? Say hello (possibly literally) to Toyota’s new INSECT car. An acronym for “information network social electric city transporter,” the INSECT is Toyota’s response to demands to automakers for more emission reducing, ultra-compact vehicles for our burgeoning metropolitan landscapes.

Unveiled this month CEATEC 2012, Japan’s largest consumer electronics show, the INSECT is almost like a smart phone you can drive. Operated on Toyota’s cloud services, combined with behavior prediction technologies, the all electric INSECT will get to know your most common destinations and as it “gets to know you better” may recommend restaurants or music you may like. It will also allow you to lock up your house or turn on the air conditioner on the way there. And thanks to Microsoft Kinect technology, the car will even learn to recognize your face and body movements. Wave or say hello and the INSECT might greet you with lights, sounds, and messages.

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The Marrs M-1 electric bike proves once and for all that eco-friendly doesn’t have to be ugly.

Both stylish and green, this bespoke work of art packs a lithium battery that will power an average 175lb. rider 20mph across a range of 20 miles, and make sure they look good doing it.

What’s more, the frame, forks, and handlebars of this 1920′s Harley meets beach cruiser bike are all handcrafted at their Southern California design studio. And like their Milwaukee based, gas powered counterparts, the guys at Marrs take serious pride in American-made craftsmanship.

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What’s the point of building a replica Stone Aged Flinstone-mobile if you can’t cruise the strip in it?

That’s exactly what happened to Sebastian Trager this past week when police in Germany banned his custom built homage to the popular cartoon from the 60′s. You’re probably wondering, is that the same Germany famous for the 7,965 miles of drive as fast as you damn well please autobahns? Yup, that’s the one.

To add insult to injury, the creator says he works in “car construction” (something was probably lost in translation) and that despite the ruling, he says the vehicle “is perfectly safe.” Unlike the pedal powered version the car was modeled after, this Bedrock replica features a modest 1.3 liter engine under the “hood” making capable of navigating the busy streets.

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