The video above is an interview with the winners of the LA Auto Show Design Challenge, Robocar 2057. The VW designers imagined cars that stand upright, which allows for higher traffic density. On the slipstream highways, things really get interesting as the car rotates to a flatter more aerodynamic position. The cars have spiked wheels that let them drive on the side of vertical highways. The cars also have a wing on the rear that keeps the back aloft. The vertical highway idea reminds me of the magnetic highways in the movie Minority Report. The standing car idea reminds me of I-Real. Below the jump, find a video interview with the director of the Design Challenge.

[Source: YouTube]

In late September, a Toyota fuel cell vehicle based on the previous generation Highlander SUV ran 347 miles from Osaka to Tokyo on a single hydrogen fill up. To date the company still hasn't given much detail about the vehicle configuration such as the fuel capacity but we may find out more in a couple of weeks. At their Los Angeles Auto Show press conference, Toyota will be making what they are terming a "major" announcement about their fuel cell program. No other information is available right now but it seems likely that they will follow General Motors and Honda in releasing a fleet of fuel cell vehicles to the public. We'll keep you posted, live from LA, in a couple of weeks.

[Source: Toyota]

We're still catching our breath from the Frankfurt Motor Show and the LA Auto Show is still two months away, but that isn't stopping the LA show promotion team from getting our minds ready for the 2008 Green Car of the Year announcement that is coming November 15. Last year's winner was the Toyota Camry Hybrid and the 2006 Mercury Mariner Hybrid won the award in its inaugural year.

So, we've got some time to chat between now an November 15, let's do so. What cars do you think have a shot at winning this year's award? 'Course, if you are of the opinion that COTY awards are a bunch of hooey and we needn't waste our time with them, go ahead and share that feeling, too. We'll take it under advisement.

What cars are up for the award? Any production models that will be on sale by the first day of 2008. The jury pool this year includes Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club; Christopher Flavin, president of Worldwatch Institute; Jean-Michel Cousteau, president of Ocean Futures Society; Jonathan Lash, President of the World Resources Institute; Automotive icon Carroll Shelby; and four Green Car Journal editors. Perhaps some of you can make a fine educated guess by looking down that list. In any case, we're all ears.

[Source: Los Angeles Auto Show]