If you call yourself a gearhead, it’s likely you spent much of your childhood smashing toy trucks together in the dirt. As kids, we loved the larger-than-life capabilities of big 4x4s, and even though we’re a bit older now, that same juvenile passion exists within us all. Thankfully, there’s a new outlet for your truckish enthusiasm, and it hails from the magical lands of St. Petersburg, Russia.
It’s called the Sherp ATV, and it comes from a “genius technologist” named Aleksey Garagashyan. Looking like a life-sized version of the toys we played with as kids, the Sherp’s proportions are incredibly mismatched, as the vehicle’s 1,600-millimeter self-inflating tires measure in at nearly 70 percent of the ATV’s total height. It has quite the commanding presence though, and clearly, it’s designed this way for a reason.
The Sherp can basically go anywhere it pleases, whether it be snow, ice, mud, sand, or as the video above shows, the open water. When it’s not swimming through a frigid lake, the ATV can scale objects up to 27.5 inches tall and even use a skid steer system to turn within its own wheelbase. It even manages to look kind of adorable while doing it.
The Russian vehicle starts at a hefty $65,000, which will get you a 1.5-liter, 44-horsepower four-banger diesel and a five-speed manual transmission. It’s certainly not fast — the Sherp manages 28 mph on land and 3.7 mph in water — but it can reach those speeds in just about any conditions mother nature can throw at it. The base price also includes a soft top tent, halogen headlights, a 15.3-gallon fuel tank, and a few analog devices on the dash. Interested parties can tack on another $5,000 for the “Kung” version, which has a hard top and a slightly cozier cabin.
One-way ticket to Russia, anyone?
Volkswagen’s newest EVs in China are making its American and European models look unusually conservative.
With Xpeng’s help, VW has introduced 800-volt charging and advanced urban driving assistance. The new VEGA technology package brings its locally developed vehicle platforms and CEA electronic architecture under one umbrella. Bloomberg reports that Volkswagen intends to update VEGA every three months. Western buyers can find pieces of that package, but not the whole thing in a Volkswagen.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?