aluminum

  • 2012 Tesla Model S body-in-white

    Colin Chapman is remembered for many things in the automotive world, but if there's one thing auto journalists have to thank him for, it's an endless stream of column inches dedicated to the weight of cars. All the calls for lighter vehicles aren't based solely on theory, but a back-catalog of light-weight sports cars that did a great deal with very little. It's no different these days, only weight is now the enemy of fuel efficiency. Or battery efficiency, if you're Tesla. The 2012 Tesla Model S may seem portly at up to 4,600 pounds with the largest 85 kWh battery pack, but were it not made...

  • Aluminum Cubed [Image by Flickr user jpeepz]
    Far-Out Tech Department: Fuel Your Future Car With...Aluminum?

    You can virtually throw a stone these days and hit someone developing a "fuel of the future", but some do appear to show more promise than others. Many options for future transportation have their disadvantages, but Alchemy Research believes there's one option that could solve several of our fuel...

  • 2011 Audi A2 Concept
    Audi A2 Concept Electric Car Due At 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show

    With the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show less than two weeks away the German auto industry is starting to really crank out the concept cars. Latest in the onslaught of new German metal is the Audi A2 concept. If you think the name sounds familiar then you aren't wrong. Audi launched a production A2...

  • 1999 Audi A2, Frankfurt Auto Show
    Audi A2 e-tron Electric Car Concept Headed To Frankfurt Auto Show: Report

    The last we heard Audi was working on a new generation of its slow selling but technologically advanced A2 hatchback for launch in 2015. According to latest reports, a concept version of this new A2 could be revealed as early as the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show this September, and it’s expected...

  • 2011 BMW 5-Series sedan
    BMW Looking To Curb Vehicle Weight With Increased Aluminum

    Lightweight materials such as carbon fiber are seen by many in the auto industry as one of the most effective ways of reducing vehicle weight and thus improving fuel economy and emissions levels, but the relative expense of the materials often mean that they are still reserved for only a handful...

  • BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept
    BMW's Newest, Greenest Concept: Vision EfficientDynamics

    BMW's legendary M series performance cars use big, brawny, turbocharged gasoline engines. The 2009 BMW M5, for example, has a 500-horsepower, 5.0-liter V-10. How many cylinders ??? Where ??? But the concept car BMW will unveil in two weeks at the Frankfurt Motor Show promises "the performance of an...

News First Drives Electric Cars Hybrids Guides Green Life