Drive Wire: October 23, 2015
A new British taxi, Chevy’s new Spark, Formula One in Texas, a mini habitat pod, and wingsuit flyers.
Transcript:
Hey guys, it’s Christina Thompson, and this is Drive Wire for for Friday, October 23.
News from Britain, and it doesn’t get much more British than a London cab. The London Taxi Company will be welcoming four-cylinder hybrid taxis called the TX5. The TX5 taxi will keep the friendly proportions of the traditional Hackney cab, but the new electric motor will be good for 30 miles before the 4-cylinder gas engine kicks in. The body will utilize composite panels on an aluminum frame. Plus they’re going to build them right there in the UK.
Chevy is set to unveil the Spark RS Concept in Las Vegas at the SEMA show in November. They’ve given the Supermini a pretty standard SEMA treatment, lowering it and giving it aggressive carbon-fiber body panels. No word on performance specs yet. Still, Chevy’s incorporating Corvette-inspired wheels and tires, so who knows, maybe they’ll get some ponies behind it, too.
Formula One comes to Texas, y'all. This weekend Austin will be hosting the U.S. Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, and we can’t wait. Flawed as it is, as much of a drama explosion as it can be, it’s still Formula One and the talent and tech are top notch, and we’ll be watching. Reminder: the standings are Lewis Hamilton, Sebestian Vettel, Nico Roseberg, and Kimi Räikönnen. Drop all your weekend plans, plunk your butt on the couch and enjoy high-revving, high-octane action—and with right turns!
Would you like to control the world? Today’s gear news features the Biopod, a little self-contained habitat that will let you be king of your own tiny jungle. It’s controlled by an app that lets you regulate temperature, humidity, light, ventilation, all that life requires. Become an ecologist for the reasonable price of $279 on Kickstarter.
Today’s ridiculous video features the Wingsuit world record flight in Perris, California. Transforming a jumpsuit into a singular wing, these daredevils put on a ballet in the sky with effortless choreography and uniform acts of insanity. In our opinion, this is the video of the week.
That’s it for today’s edition of Drive Wire. For more, be sure to come back to thedrive.com, and follow us @thedrive on all your favorite social media platforms.
