TG gadgets

PLAYFOREVER VERVE VELOCITA

Welcome everyone, to a toy you’ll tell people you’re buying for your son or daughter, but is actually entirely for you. Manufacturer Playforever calls them ‘art toys’, and says they were inspired by its founder’s childhood, which was spent riding his bike around underground car parks looking for squirrelled-away supercars. All its toys are awesome, but our fave is the Velocita, which is styled after a Seventies F1 car. The main body is plastic, but coated in fade-free paint and then hand-polished to a shine. Playforever promises they’re ‘virtually indestructible’ too, which to a three-year-old is simply a challenge. playforever.co.uk; £25.30

PIAGGIO VESPA ELETTRICA

Good news, those of you who know something about style. Now you can cruise around on the ultimate mobile fashion accessory, a Vespa scooter, without making the silly buzzy noises of an irritated wasp. The electric Vespa has just 5bhp, but will do around 62 miles to a four-hour charge. elettrica.vespa.com; €6,390

CARISMA M40S LOTUS EXIGE

A remote-controlled car done properly. Supplied as a ‘ready-torun’ model, this 1/10th scale Lotus celebrates the 50th anniversary of its manufacturer’s parent company. It’s all-wheel drive and has fully independent suspension. Also likely to be more reliable than an actual Lotus Exige, which is a plus. carisma-shop.com; $269.99

Roborace, the motorsport series set to launch with unmanned ‘drone’ cars in 2019, has announced the cars will have, um, human drivers. To show the difference in biological and computer driving talent, the first half of the race will be controlled by racing drivers, who’ll step out halfway through the race and let the chips take over. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s effort to put man on Mars has overshot. Sort of. The Tesla Roadster and dummy driver he rocketed into space in February has now passed Mars orbit, according to SpaceX data.