Autonomous cars are in the headlines every day these days, with several manufacturers working to have such vehicles hit the road in the next five years.

I was fortunate enough to recently drive a top-of-the-range Tesla for a trip from Sydney to Orange in the central west of NSW. I tested the Autopilot feature thoroughly over the 520km return journey and found the experience unnerving at first — then comforting.

As Hotels.com's regional director for Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, Katherine Cole knows a thing or two about the hotel industry. Travelling on a fortnightly basis to all corners of the globe, she's stayed at hundreds of hotels and has learned a few tricks along the way. We asked Cole to share her top hotel hacks with Lifehacker readers, from the best time to book your hotel to the hidden costs you need to watch out for.

Every language has its own slang and phrases you should master to sound like a true native speaker. Australian English is no exception.

You may have heard “G’day mate”, “fair dinkum”, and “strewth!” before, but the dialect is much broader than that. Try these next time you speak to an Aussie and you might convince them you’re “true blue”.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that a safe 102% of the readers of this site are fans of both cars and a vast and disgusting variety of sexual acts. And that's great. My stand on cars is well established (quite pro) and when it comes to sex, I can't think of a more enjoyable way to get the maximum genetic diversity to my offspring. Plus, it gives my genitals something to do other than pee all the time, which any old stupid catheter could do, and probably better.

"Real question: does anyone I know clean their underwear in a kettle when travelling?"

Scrolling through social media this morning, these 14 words, in one foul (pun intended) swoop, ruined every relaxing cup of tea I've ever had in a hotel room.

My mind was racing. Who would do this? Why?

This week, the controversial M4 toll kicks in for Western Sydney motorists. Depending on the entry/exit you use and the type of vehicle you're driving, you could be slugged anywhere between $1.77 and $13.67 per trip. Here is the full list of tolls.

Qantas Frequent Flyer members can now put their points towards exclusive discounts at 144,000 hotels around the world. The Classic Hotel Rewards scheme provides member-only rates and deals for international hotels including Accor, Marriott, Hyatt and Shangri La. We explain how to get started.

Dispute It is a free legal chat bot for motorists that has been designed to answer that age-old question: "is this fine worth challenging in court?" The app automatically compares the details of your case with scenarios where a review could be considered. It even provides sample wording and templates for your appeal and advice on what to do next.

Our self-driving car future may be farther away than the hype suggests. Besides Tesla, self-driving car developers depend on an expensive piece of technology called LIDAR, a laser-based radar that allows an autonomous vehicle to see the road.

There are cheaper options, but the MIT Technology Review explains that these more-affordable solutions won't deliver the kind of data that's necessary for self-driving cars to operate at highway speeds.

Australia is taking the electric car revolution one step further by announcing a $4 million super-long electric highway, or a series of fast charging electric vehicle stations.

Did you accidentally buy a boring car? Have no fear. There's no such thing as a dull ride as long as you know how to get the most out of the situation. Here are ten suggestions for more excitement.

Most of us will never be able to afford our dream car - the high end of the market is just too damn expensive. However, that doesn't mean you need to drive around in an old bomb. As this infographic demonstrates, even people on the minimum wage can afford a surprisingly swish ride.

I take a lot of tech with me when I travel for work or pleasure. It's a perk of the job, but also a bit of a pain sometimes. Usually at the very least a couple of phones, a laptop, a camera. I usually take a different gadget each trip, so I'm used to things going wrong with the technology I carry when I'm on the road. But one thing I've learned not to muck around with is my passport.

Buying a brand new car for the first time is exciting. However, dealerships too often see first-time car buyers as easy targets because many of them lack the experience and knowledge on how to get a new car without being taken for a ride. Here are five of the most common mistakes first-time car buyers make (and how to avoid them.)

Personalised licence plates (also known as 'custom' and 'vanity' plates) have moved firmly into the mainstream. In Victoria alone, around 30,000 sets of custom registration plates are made every year, around 10 percent of which end up on registered vehicles. They’re easy to think up while you’re stuck in traffic and they’re surprisingly affordable for a vanity product. Also, people are complete morons.

Over the last few weeks, I've been road testing a number of different Windows 10 tablets and 2-in-1 computers. When I started the journey, my goal was to replace an iPad Pro - which is a great piece of hardware but doesn't quite meet my specific needs - with something else. I really like the idea of a "proper" file system that lets me easily save documents and sync them to the could without any messing about. And a touchscreen is also part of my life. So, what did I choose?

On June 9, Uber will introduce a new booking fee and increase the price of minimum fares in all mainland state capitals. In some cities, the fare for certain trips will rise by a whopping 40 per cent. Here's how much more you will need to pay in each Australian city.

Qantas has revealed the pricing for its first direct flight between Perth and London - and the tickets go on sale today. A non-stop return Economy flight to London will officially set you back $2270, although Qantas is promising prices below $2000 during promotional periods. Here are the details.

The Australian taxi-booking app Ingogo has upped the number of Qantas points customers earn to up to 1000 points for the first four rides. In addition, Ingogo customers can join the Qantas Frequent Flyers program for free by downloading the app - a saving of $89.50.