The Enertia is an electric bike that is capable getting 40 miles of driving out of six Lithium Phosphate battery modules. The speed tops out at 50 MPH, but that is more than enough to handle just about any commute. The charge time is three hours, so if you have access to power supply at work, you can charge it up before it comes time to head home. The Enertia certainly seems worth the $12,000 price tag that puts it in the league of BMW and Ducati bikes.

via [red ferret]

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Although the BigDog may be more durable, It won’t be able to walk the distances as Cornell’s ‘Ranger’. Just because it’s not the most beautiful bot out there, doesn’t mean it should sit the bench. The Ranger walked 45 laps nonstop around Cornell’s track which is 5.6 miles. The Ranger eventually tipped over likely due to a dieing battery.

Developed by a team of students working with Andy Ruina, Cornell professor of theoretical and applied mechanics, the robot walked (and walked) until it finally stopped and fell backward, perhaps because its battery ran down. “We need to do some careful analysis to find out for sure,” said Greg Stiesberg, a graduate student on the team.

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