engineering
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It's not surprising that the powertrains of electric cars differ quite a bit from traditional internal-combustion engines. Although they have fewer moving parts, the rare-earth magnets that help power electric cars can be quite complex to fabricate. So, what is there to know about rare-earth magnets—and how do automakers choose which kind of magnet is best for an electric car's motor? DON'T MISS: Better electric motors can boost electric-car efficiency First, there are four main types of magnets: ceramic (ferrite), AlNiCo, Samarium Cobalt (SmCo), and Neodymium (NdFeB). The latter is the...
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First Drive: Chevy Bolt EV 200-Mile Electric Car Development Vehicle
If the production version of the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV lives up to the engineering development vehicles we saw and drove today, it will debut a new world of affordable, 200-mile electric cars that should be desirable to a broad mass market. Back in 2010, Chevy let journalists drive "integration...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Motors Has More Than 1,600 Jobs Open, Many For Engineers
Tesla reportedly has 1,656 jobs open.
Stephen Edelstein -
Why Tesla Model X Electric SUV Is Late: Range, Towing, 'Falcon Doors'
Electric-car fans and Tesla owners alike are eagerly awaiting the debut of the Tesla Model X electric SUV, now scheduled to go into production roughly six months from now. Like every Tesla, the Model X has been delayed a number of times--but there's been little speculation about the reasons for the...
John Voelcker -
How Toyota Made The 2012 RAV4 EV More Aerodynamic
As most electric car fans will tell you, it’s much easier for automakers to build an all-electric car from scratch than it is to repurpose an existing gasoline model with an electric drivetrain. In the case of Toyota’s RAV4EV however, the Japanese automaker, with help from Californian...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Tesla Motors CEO Musk To Support Tesla Museum Project
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors, has quite a lot on his mind these days. Among his tasks: making sure production of the 2012 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan ramps up quickly enough, while maintaining superb quality, to let Tesla build 5,000 units before the end of the year. But Musk still...
John Voelcker -
The winning team for the third and final year of the first EcoCar Challenge has yet to be announced, but the next three-year competition has already been unveiled. On Wednesday, representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors officially launched EcoCar2, whose tagline will be "Plugging Into The Future." This is the latest in a 23-year history of engineering challenges sponsored by the DoE. Both EcoCar Challenges, and the Challenge X competition that preceded them, bring together teams from more than a dozen universities and colleges to modify a vehicle to make it more...
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BMW Hiring 2,600 Workers By 2012 For Hybrid And Electric Cars
First General Motors said it would add 1,000 workers purely to work on electric cars. Now it's BMW's turn. In a strong indicator of its commitment to developing hybrid and pure electric vehicles, BMW says it will hire an additional 2,600 employees over the next two years to work in these particular...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
GM Doubles Down on Electric Cars, Will Hire 1,000 Engineers For Them
It doesn't really matter whether GM sells the first Chevrolet Volt electric cars at a loss or not. The company announced yesterday that it plans to hire 1,000 new engineers over the next two years to focus exclusively on developing and expanding its work in electric-drive vehicles, everything from...
John Voelcker -
Will Jaguar Have the First Hybrid Born From Jet Turbines?
"Born From Jets" may be the slogan of recently-saved-from-death Swedish Saab, but one day it may prove more appropriate for British carmaker Jaguar. The company has been awarded funding from the U.K. government to develop a small jet turbine as a range extender for a future hybrid luxury car. Its...
John Voelcker -
More Tesla Turmoil? Executive Turnover Continues
Executive turnover continues at Silicon Valley electric-car startup Tesla Motors, with three executives leaving in nine months and two more hired. The turnover comes both in Vehicle Engineering--the group that must executive and deliver the 2012 Tesla Model S electric luxury sports sedan--and in...
John Voelcker -
Big Mileage Gains From Really, Really Small Engines
We keep saying that one of the ways all cars will get greener and more efficient is for their engines to get smaller and work harder. One of the first production examples of this is Ford's EcoBoost V6 engine, which delivers the power of a V8 with better gas mileage. Now a couple of experimental new...
John Voelcker