Goodbye, Autos; Hello, Podcar

Company expects to begin selling them made-to-order in 2013

(NEWSER) - The DeLorean, one of the most iconic sports cars of all time and the vehicle that Marty McFly and Doc Brown zipped through time with in Back to the Future, is slated for a new release—this time as an electric car, reports ABC News . Built-to-order electric DeLoreans, priced at $90,000 a piece, could be on the road by 2013. More»

Conventional cars are giving hybrids a run for their money

(NEWSER) - Hybrids are gas-sipping wonders, and electric cars may be the green wave of the future, but oil-addicted America's best hope may be ... the conventional gasoline engine, reports the Washington Post . GM, Ford, and Hyundai are now selling cars with conventional engines that get 40mpg or better on the highway, and getting there wasn't that hard: Chevy shaved 200 hundred pounds off its Cruze Eco, tightened the aerodynamics, upgraded the engine, and is now squeezing 50mpg out of the car. More»

Follows Boston, NYC in long-planned move

(NEWSER) - Following the lead of Boston and New York City, the Washington, DC, subway system will begin random bag inspections, the AP reports. The move isn’t a reaction to any particular danger; it’s been planned for years, said an official. The past few months, however, have seen a few threats, including one made on Facebook to set off pipe bombs in the metro. More»

Smart car? Maybe not so smart

(NEWSER) - Some of us lovingly referred to our first car variously as "the jalopy," "the tin can on wheels," or "the death trap." And some of us were right. Here, as per Autoshippers, are the most dangerous cars of all time:

• 1967-1971 Ford Pinto: Had a nasty habit of exploding even on low-speed impacts.
• 1915-1925 Briggs & Stratton Flyer: No doors, windshield, impact protection. Super cheap, and often fatal, transportation.
• 1960-1963 Chevrolet Corvair: Engine in the back let toxic fumes in the car and the steering wheel was known to fatally impale drivers. Other than that, great car.

Ex-employee allegedly abused no-start system

(NEWSER) - More than 100 Texas drivers got an unexpected surprise late last month when their cars started honking inexplicably or simply stopped working. The hacker charged with causing the problems was arrested yesterday, Wired reports. Omar Ramos-Lopez used to work at the auto center that sold the cars—which were armed with a controversial device allowing them to be fiddled with remotely if customers fell behind on payments—and he allegedly abused the system as revenge after being laid off. More»