We teamed up with Fast Company, where you can read about the business and technology behind the bike, and Hell For Leather, for this review.

Like the Quantya Strada Wes and I rode around his loft, the Zero X is powered by a Lithium Ion Battery. While they share a few common specs, the X is actually a very different bike. For starters, at 151 lb., the X is 44 lb. lighter, makes 23 HP with 50 lb-ft of torque (twice that of the Quantya) and does 0-to-30 in less than 2 seconds. That's performance more akin to a 250cc two-stroke, but without the clouds of burnt Castrol R.

It's pure power to weight. The 18 lb chassis uses thin-walled aluminum construction standard in auto-manufacturing, making it so light I can pick it up with my fingertips.

That kind of lightweight strategy is applied throughout the bike's components. The fully adjustable White Brothers shock is built specifically for the X, as are the ultra-light spokes and wheels. What you end up getting is a package reminiscent of Colin Chapman's ideology: small, light and very quick. Also similar to Lotus, The Zero X is considerably cheaper than its competitors. While the Quantya comes in at $10K, the Zero X is $7,750 shipped to your door if you live in the Continental US, with an extra $700 for six-day airmail to Europe.

So how does the Zero X compare to an old-timey gasoline-powered bike? A gas motor is only about 25% efficient, the Zero X's motor, with its single moving part, is about 95%. The battery itself puts out 300 watts amps, enough to vaporize a wrench if it's electrocuted. When asked about the whole electricity-isn't-really-green issue, CEO Gene Banman said, "Yes, burning coal to charge an electric motorcycle creates a carbon footprint, but burning gasoline is much more inefficient. The Coal/Electric motorcycle is 5x better than gasoline. The American grid with its natural gas, hydro and nuclear makes the electric motorcycle 8x better. Then as green energy sources come on line, the electric motorcycle becomes a true zero carbon solution."

But can you really eat the batteries? Founder and CTO Neal Saiki explains, "The best technology is coming out of Canada, and Canada has clean facilities. These are 100 percent non-toxic batteries. You can cut them open and eat them. They're just a salt that is tightly bound. Because it's a salt inside these they're landfill approved in the United States and Europe."

The charge time on the battery is around 2 hours. Zero has made the battery a modular unit that can be pulled in less than a minute and replaced. While long distance riding is out of the question, Neal Saiki made it clear that the X is a continually evolving machine "for enthusiasts who like motorcycles, and somebody who wants to ride and not piss off their neighbors." In an era of ever-increasing restrictions coupled with decreasingly available land, that's not just a sales pitch. With the Zero I could be blasting down the streets, terrorizing small animals and kids in a noise-ordinanced, gated-community and nobody would know.

The track here at Glen Helen is rough thanks to nearly a week of heavy rains that stopped the day before, but the Zero handles it pretty well. The speed is explosive, which means really going fast at a rate I'm not ready for thanks to the 50 lb-ft of torque available instantly with just a twist of the throttle. I get myself into trouble when I forget the Zero X isn't designed to handle the tortures of an MX track famous for destroying even the most rugged machines. That ultra-light suspension is bottoming out on the landings as well as the stutters that have contracted and broken into huge chunks.

The X is designed for single-track trails, not 100 ft descents with giant ruts. And while I could complain about lack of confidence because the bike's dynamics are so foreign, there's this one nagging advantage - I can hear everything. I don't have to wear plugs to keep my ears from bleeding. In fact, the loudest noise the bike makes is when the brakes squeal as I jam the rear to keep from rocketing off a ridge.

Is the X going to outperform heavier, more robust dedicated Motocross bikes on their home turf? No. But it can offer fast off-road thrills free of both emissions and noise better than any other electric dirt bike yet designed. It's lighter and more accessible than traditional dirt bikes too. View it as a direct replacement for gas-powered bikes and you'll be disappointed, but view it as a very fun, genuinely fast indication of their future and you'll be excited. We are.

Read more about the business and technology behind the Zero X at Fast Company.

Text and photography: Grant Ray

At first the 2010 Honda Insight appears to be a cynical attempt to copy the Toyota Prius, but as we stated in our first drive review, it's anything but. Mugen wants to completely eliminate any semblance of the little Toyota appliance by applying its design and engineering know-how to create a sporty little 5-door hybrid.

Mugen has challenged its designers to create a sporty, yet functional aero kit for the 2010 Honda Insight and have done just that, but at the price of a clean look. The added bits include a front sports grille, aerodynamic front under spoiler, fog lamps, aero side skirts, ventilated visors, rear under spoiler with integrated diffuser, rear wing and your choice of a set of aluminum XJ or NR 8-spoke wheels in 15- or 16-inch sizes. The Mugen Zero-Lift Honda Insight bodykit does just that, it creates zero lift; at least that's what Mugen claims.

The biggest and most exciting addition to the little hybrid is in the handling department. Mugen is offering a sport suspension package which includes new springs and dampers that eliminate 20mm from the stock ride height. They also offer i-TCMS (intelligent-Tire Condition Monitoring System) that, as you'd guess by the name, monitors the tire condition.

The silliest looking bit on the 2010 Mugen Zero-Lift Honda Insight is the sport silencer exhaust and its slightly out of place triangular exhaust tip. The interior gets a nifty set of Mugen sports mats and some aluminum sports pedals.

We're sure that Mugen will find plenty of buyers in Japan (they'll have to) because there are currently no plans to bring the 2010 Mugen Zero-Lift Honda Insight to U.S. shores.

[via Mugen]

Back in high school and middle school the wedgie (or as we called it, the wedge) was something you most certainly didn't want, under any circumstance and you definitely didn't appreciate it when it came along. But in car design, the wedge is something you can appreciate.

The beautiful and technical shape was used by many of the top design houses of the seventies and was a signal the future had officially arrived. While not the most aerodynamic form in practice, it certainly looked the part and helped usher in a new era of automotive design. Italian design houses ItalDesign, Bertone and Pininfarina were at the forefront of the movement, but the Japanese, Germans and the U.S. jumped on the bandwagon shortly thereafter

10) 1972 Lotus Esprit M70

First displayed at the Turin Motor Show in 1972, the Lotus Esprit M70 was designed by Giugiaro at Ital Design and was built on a widened and lengthened Europa chassis. After positive reviews from the public Colin Chapman decided to put the Esprit into production. The final design was completed in 1973 with many of the concept cues intact and when the then GM owned Lotus decided to build Peter Stevens redesign in 1987, many of those original cues remained.

Fun fact: that you couldn't call yourself a car guy without knowing already: Roger Moore drove a submersible version in the 1977 James Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me.

9) 1989 Vector W8

In 1989, after nearly two decades of development, Gerald Wiegert revealed his Vector W8 to the public. Extensive use of aeronautical building techniques were to be W8s selling point, but shoddy quality and a lack of funding eventually brought down the U.S.-built Lamborghini competitor in the mid-nineties. The W8 drew its inspiration from the 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo and many other wedge cars in our list and is still a beautiful car today and you can pick up one of the few examples for a steal; nearly 20 percent of the original $685,000 asking price.

Fun fact: The Vector W8 was featured briefly in the 1993 movie, Rising Sun.

8) 1972 E25 BMW Turbo

The E25 BMW Turbo was initially built to celebrate the upcoming 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, but was later used as the inspiration for the M1, 8-Series, Z1 and the new M1 Homage concept. BMW built the Turbo concept as a rolling display for new safety and engineering technologies as well as showing that BMW had officially left the difficult 60's behind. Penned by BMW's French head of design, Paul Bracq, the Turbo concept was styled after the most dramatic Italian supercars of the day and featured an advanced radar system that warned the driver of close objects such as curbs and cars.

Fun fact: The Turbo featured two BMW badges on the rear – symbolizing BMW's exceptional quality – a cue that made it onto the production M1 and M1 Homage concept.

7) 1978 Dome Zero

Dome was and still is a race car manufacturer in Japan and in 1978 they gave the world the Dome Zero concept at the Geneva Motor Show. Intended to show Dome's intention of building a homologation special for a new line of sportscars; it was unable to pass Japanese homologation. In 1979, Dome debuted a revised Zero, dubbed the P2, with U.S. market bumpers and safety equipment added to the design. In the same year, a racing effort was launched at Le Mans but the ‘Zero RL' failed to finish the race. Shortly after, investors pulled their funds and the Dome Zero was officially dead.

Fun fact: The Dome Zero was featured in Gran Turismo 4, Auto Modellista on the PS2 and Sega GT on the XBOX.

6) 1970 Lancia Stratos Zero

At the 1970 Turin Motor Show, Bertone showed off a styling exercise called the Lancia Stratos Zero. The Lancia Stratos HF roadcar was based very loosely off of this concept though the similarities are few and far between. The futuristic Zero stood 838mm tall and was so low that conventional doors could not be used and to gain access, drivers would have to raise the windshield and walk into the car.

Fun fact: The Stratos Zero appeared in Michael Jackson's 1988 film, Moonwalker.

5) 1972 Maserati Boomerang

In 1971 the Maserati Boomerang was shown at the Turin Motor Show as a mockup and then in 1972 the Geneva Motor Show saw the debut of the fully realized Maserati Boomerang concept. It sat next to the Lotus Esprit M70 as both were designed by Giugiaro at ItalDesign. At 1070mm high, it's not the shortest wedge in the list, but it did have a 15 degree windshield rake – the steepest rake you could achieve while maintaining visibility, albeit very little. ItalDesign used the Boomerang as inspiration when designing the DMC Delorean (most noticeable in the rear view) in the eighties.

Fun fact: Intended as a showcar, the Boomerang was registered as a roadcar and was actually sold in 1974 to a private collector which brings us to 2005 when it was auctioned at Christie's for a cool $1,000,000.

4) 1969 Holden Hurricane RD001

The Holden Hurricane was an experimental concept built in 1969 and was the first product of the GM Holden Research and Development group. The Hurricane's ultra low 990mm stance would have made ingress and egress difficult with traditional doors, so an electro-mechanical powered canopy was used and swung forward over the front wheels. Also included were power elevated seats that both rose up and out of the way along with the steering column to make exiting the Hurricane easier. When climbing into the car the seats would lower to a semi-reclined position and the roof would close overhead.

Fun fact: A similar canopy design was used on both the Saab Aero X and the Batmobile from the Tim Burton Batman movies.

3) 1970 Ferrari PF Modulo

Painted black for the 1970 Geneva Motor Show and then re-sprayed white for its debut at the 1970 Turin Motor Show; the Paulo Martin penned Pininfarina-Ferrari Modulo concept gained quite a reputation and won numerous international design awards – 22 of them – for a car that almost wasn't produced. The cars release was held for over a year because of an apprehensive Sergio Pininfarina. Developed using the Ferrari 512-S racer as a basis, the 935mm high PF Modulo was built to explore new construction technologies and to show off the raw passion of the Italian design house.

Fun fact: Paulo Martin was sketching a Rolls-Royce Camargue dashboard when the idea struck him to make the first sketch of the Modulo. You could say he was more than a little bored with the Rolls.

2) 1971 Lamborghini Countach

Designed by Gandini for Bertone in 1971, the original Lamborghini Countach concept was the most pure version the public would ever see of this car. The wild scissor doors were first seen on another car in our list (the Alfa Romeo Carabo concept) and were used primarily because of the extremely wide chassis, but we think the real reason is because Gandini knew every rice boy would want them on their econo-hatch some day. The Countach name was derived from the dialect of the Piedmont region in northern Italy, literally meaning astonishment and amazement. The pure design of the concept translated loosely into the production LP400 though it was short lived when splitters, wings and U.S. bumper requirements were added to the mix in the LP400S, LP500 and QV models.

Fun fact: The Countach was featured in the 1981 movie, The Cannonball Run, and is one of the most replicated cars to date.

1) 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo

The 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo is the most significant wedge car and paved the way for many of the cars on this list. Designed by Marcello Gandini of Bertone fame, it was revealed at Porte de Versailles in Paris in 1968 to an absolutely stunned crowd. The Lamborghini Countach concept that arrived 3 years later drew inspiration from the Carabo in its wedge form, wheel house openings and its notoriously cool scissor-doors, though the Countach wasn't the only car that took inspiration from the Carabo. You can see inspired cues from many sports cars and supercars like the Diablo, 4th gen Camaro and Vector. Vector took the inspiration quite literally by duplicating many of the shapes of the front and side profile in its W8. Many wealthy individuals tried to purchase the Carabo including an Arab prince or two, but thankfully Bertone decided to hold on to it and now the Carabo spends its days relaxing inside the Alfa Romeo museum in Arese, Italy.

Fun fact: The unique name "Carabo" and its green paint were derived from the small green beetle, Carabus Olympiae.

Honorable Mentions

Narrowing down our search for the top ten wedge cars was difficult and we couldn't let this list pass without mention of a few other notable wedges. The DMC DeLorean was the hardest to leave off the list based on its cult follow from the Back to the Future films. Another difficult car to omit was the popular Triumph TR7/TR8 which was produced from 1974 to 1981. In the gallery below you'll find the rest of the cars that we thought were worth mentioning. Enjoy!

[via Lotus Esprit Turbo]

The Miles Electric is the brainchild of Polo by Ralph Lauren Jeanswear founder and avowed environmentalist Miles Rubin and it has taken a more stealthy approach to the public spotlight. The Highway Speed is an all-electric converted version of the Hafei Saibao 3, a Chinese-made compact that actually passes European safety standards — shocking! Pun intended.

The Miles Electric Highway Speed, which is the unofficial but silly name, draws power from a 37 KW lithium iron phosphate battery pack which charges on 220V power and has enough juice for a 100 mile round trip. The still murky motivating motor reaches a claimed acceleration of 8.2 seconds 0-to-60 MPH with a top speed over 80 MPH. Chassis and battery components are built and assembled in China at the Hafei assembly line while the motor and controller are US made components.

But what's the bottom line on all of this? Price, somewhere in the neighborhood of $40,000 to $45,000, but considering the battery pack exceeds the 20 KW capacity which earns the federal $7,500 incentive, the price becomes a bit more reasonable. But that's not really the bottom line anyway is it? The real question is whether Americans, and Californians specifically, would consider buying a largely Chinese-made electric vehicle built by a company captained by a fashionista environmentalist. [via Hybrid Cars]

By comparison, the Tesla Roadster takes 8 hours or so to recharge its batteries, but it’s also capable of a sub 4-second 0-60 time, a 125 MPH top speed and a range of 200 miles. The Tazzari, which will presumably be far cheaper, is only capable of hitting 56 MPH, has a range of 93 miles and does 0-31 MPH in “less than 5 seconds.”

While it’s not a performance car, the Tazzari Zero actually looks like it has significant merit as a city runabout, having range and performance considerably greater than its main competition, the G-Wiz. Like that car, the Zero looks small enough to park virtually anywhere, and at less than 1,200 pounds, it’s seriously lightweight too. There’s no word on when the Zero will come to market, but when it does it looks like it’ll be available in Italy, England and France, where legislation and local preferences make vehicles like these extremely practical. [Tazzari via Smart Planet]