Forget the hands on your watch

Now you can make your car glow in the dark. A heavily modified Volkswagen Golf has been wrapped with a phosphorescent coating that makes the car appear white in daylight and glow green in dark surrounds. The German hatchback has been modified by tuners Low-Car-Scene and Blackbox-Richter, and features what’s called a "phosphor-foil wrap" from texture and coating specialists 3M on the body of the car and the wheels. The body flips from white to green in the dark, while the wheels and striped highlights change from pink to black. Its modifiers have labelled it the Golf VII Light-Tron.

In other automotive news, Toyota has unveiled a "no frills" electric car concept that it claims offers the practicality of four cars in one. The Toyota ME.WE concept, designed by the Japanese brand and European industrial designer Jean-Marie Massaud, can be configured as a ute (pickup truck), off-roader, semi-convertible, or a city car. The name ME.WE stems from the car's apparent "concern for individual freedom" (that's the 'ME' bit) and its "responsibility towards society" (that's the ‘WE' part). The Yaris-sized five-seater is designed to be an eco-warrior, with recyclable materials used through the body and the cabin. It features weight-saving polypropylene body panels that save about 180 kilograms over steel, a bamboo floor and dash, and a lightweight aluminium underbody. It weighs just 750kg but despite its lithe kerb weight, it still features a four-wheel-drive system. There's a bank of batteries under the body of the car, and four in-wheel electric motors for constant propulsion, even on slippery surfaces. Inside the ME.WE has a simple interior with polypropylene bench seats that the company claims can be taken out of the car and used as picnic chairs. It features a smartphone docking station, with an app for sat-nav guidance and controlling the car's air temperature. The back-end can extend into a ute-like tray for carting longer parcels, and the roof section features a luggage hold with an expandable neoprene cover. It's looking to be one amazing car, but it would be even nicer with the glow-in-the-dark coating on the VW also mentioned here today.

That's enough car talk for one day because a top United States Senate Democrat says the advertising industry is ignoring consumers' requests not to be tracked online and that it's probably time for federal regulation. Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia delivered the threat in his opening remarks at a congressional hearing Wednesday on his proposal to impose a "Do Not Track" list that companies would have to honour unless they want to face penalties by the Federal Trade Commission.