Beetle

If a robot is going to be tiny, then it better have a way of getting around the many obstacles that will block its way. A new type of robot takes a unique approach to doing so, by jumping like a click beetle.

One of the great game-changing automobiles, the quirky little Volkswagen Beetle emerged from a dramatic birth to become the best-selling car in history, forever altering how small cars are seen, and sparking a remarkable automotive cult in the process.

Ironclad beetles can survive being run over by a car and scientists have now unlocked some of the secrets behind this incredible toughness, which they say paves the way for a new breed of materials that bear similar characteristics.

Heating and cooling systems are huge consumers of energy, so passively cooling buildings and electronics could help the environment. A new photonic film could be just the ticket, made with a micro-structure inspired by a beetle that likes it hot.

Classic Volkswagens, like the Beetle and the Bus, are now iconic pieces of driving history throughout the world. Volkswagen wants to take that love a step further by adding an electrification option for restorers looking to bring new spark to their classic Beetle cars.

The 2019 model year will be the end of the iconic Volkswagen Beetle. VW says that it will be focusing on family-oriented vehicles going forward, and the Beetle does not meet that goal. The 2019 VW Beetle will have a special Final Edition model in its SE and SEL trims as a send-off.

The Volkswagen Beetle continues to defy the laws of economics, becoming one of the hottest collector car investments at the same time as being the most plentiful. Though the collector car market has cooled, 36 of the 50 most valuable Beetles have been sold in the last three years.

A new experiment from Indiana University has shown how natural selection can create complex traits out of existing genetic “building blocks”, and to illustrate this the team used a relatively simple genetic tool to grow a functional third eye on the forehead of beetles.

VW of America has announced that it will be sponsoring the ProjectBaja.com Class 11 VW Beetle in the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 race in mid-November. The race team is based in Denver, Colorado and plans to take the old-school Beetle out into one of the toughest races on the planet.

We're very used to writing about cars with names like "Ferrari" and "McLaren" blowing past the 200-mph (322-km/h) mark, but this month, it's the more everyday names of Volkswagen and Honda. Both automakers drove specially prepared land speed record cars to over 200 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

We spent a week with the Beetle Dune that harkens back to the Baja Bugs of the 1960s and 1970s. Although this modern rendition isn't built to tackle the open desert, sand dunes and beaches​ like the vehicles that inspired it, we found the Beetle Dune to hold a lot of appeal nonetheless.

The VW Beetle might have started life as low-cost transport for the masses, but its modern reinvention has been all about style. The latest addition to the stable is no different, taking inspiration from modified "Baja Bugs" to create the rugged-looking Beetle Dune.