The Yamaha EC-f was presented at the Tokyo Motor Show. It uses a lithium-ion battery, which can be plugged into a regular socket for recharging. They are not making these soon enough. [Dvice]

He imagines environments like campuses and airports offering the vehicle, because it lets folks stay productive at a desk, in privacy, without walking. He says by limiting the speed, users should feel a sense of calm at being able to max out the throttle, something we don't always get to do in cars.

Personally, being boxed makes me feel pretty far from calm. Fail. Check out the vid and decide for yourself. [Jurgen Bey via Mocoloco]

The scooter planned its move carefully. It knew the woman's husband, recovering from a triple-bypass surgery, would be unable to chase after it. It waited until its innocent owner had dozed off, leaving her incapacitated and vulnerable. And it even showed signs of weakness prior to the kidnapping attempt, appearing unreliable, so when it did make its move, it would be all the more shocking.

It did not, however, account for the superior force of the Cornwall police department, which found it "swerving" on the highway five miles from home. The Cornish police captured the scooter and returned it to its now-wary owner. According to the BBC, "It took [officer] Michael Ginnelly an hour to drive the scooter back to Perranporth."

Said owner Eileen Bishop, "I just lost him. I was half asleep to tell you the truth."

Chilling. [BBC, image also BBC]

"An eyepiece shows a red target dot, and then transmits an image of the target to a monitor, which relays the information to the gun." According to creator Barry Lamperd, if the holographic sight is on target, you can't miss. Let's hope so—because the company plans to sell the scooter to the US Army to use in crowd control situations (presumably in Iraq), and it will probably make its way down to local law enforcement somewhere down the line. [Lamperd Less Lethal via Sarnia Observer via Danger Room]

In other words, you could be surfing the internet, making Skype calls, broadcasting your own pirate radio station, functioning as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot, watching TV (and taping your favorite shows), checking your GPS and playing the guitar while you cruise down the road. Sounds like safe fun to me. If you want to get in on it, check back in on the project page. They are planing on posting detailed instructions on how to build one for yourself in the near future. [Project Page]

Still, beats having your battery powered car's cell run dry; how are you supposed to move that trunk of junk? ...My humps, my humps, my hu—sorry. If you have $799.00 burning a hole in your wallet, may we have your cash carrier? Failing that, why not get yourself a Motorboard 2000XR and dilly-dally into the sunset, Mr. Moneybags? [Product Page via Red Ferret]

HUBO has become the first robot to successfully ride around on a Segway-like scooter. Which allows him (her?) to reach speeds over 10x his walking rate. For now HUBO is restricted to going where his scientist parents tell him by way of remote control, but they plan to allow HUBO to drive himself in the future.

Drive himself? Korea, do you know what you have unleashed? Next thing you know they'll be harvesting us like little human batteries.– Ben Longo

Hubo the first robot in the world to get on a Segway [Fareastgizmos.com]

The little crotch rocket, built by the same company that brought us the iconic Vespa motor scooter 60 years ago, is available in a choice of either a 125cc or a 250cc four-stroke liquid-cooled engine. You don't even need a kick stand for it, either.

Product Page [via italiaspeed]

Even though this is just a design concept so far, someday it might be a great way to save yourself a little money getting from here to there.

Product page [via MocoLoco]

Even though buying Zac will set you back $470, the company says it only uses 35 cents' worth of energy to transport you 62 miles. Heck, that's a lot cheaper than walking.
Product Page [via Treehugger]