Car Tech
-
Tougher fuel economy standards may make mild hybrids and small turbocharged engines more common in China.
-
BMW Says It Will Triple Production Of Carbon Fiber For Electric Cars
BMW plans to produce up to 9,000 tons of material per year at its Washington-state plant.
Stephen Edelstein -
Dual-Carbon Battery: Same Energy Density, Safer, Longer Life Than Lithium-Ion, Says Power Japan Plus
In the search for better electric-car batteries, lots of lab research has to happen before anything can be announced. Today, a company called Power Japan Plus came out of stealth mode to unveil a new battery chemistry, with both electrodes--anode and cathode--made of carbon. The new cell, known as...
John Voelcker -
2014 Dodge Dart Dumps Dual-Clutch Automatic, Except On Aero Model
The Dodge Dart compact sedan launched as a 2013 model hasn't sold as well as hoped. One thing that hurt its debut was the unfamiliar feel of its dual-clutch automatic gear gearbox, brought over from Europe to boost the fuel economy of versions fitted with the 160-horsepower turbocharged 1.4-liter...
John Voelcker -
How Hard Is Lithium-Air Battery Research? Pretty Tough, Actually
It's hard to keep track of all the future battery technology candidates, but lithium-air battery technology is among the most widely-researched. Its biggest draw is the potential to store three times the energy in batteries the same size and weight of today's electric vehicles--providing huge...
Antony Ingram -
Toyota Describes Combustion Engine That Generates Electricity Directly
Despite the recent advent of usable, talented electric vehicles, combustion engines are likely to persist for quite some time, often as a component in plug-in hybrid and range-extended electric vehicles. The onus then is on refining combustion power to work harmoniously with increasingly...
Antony Ingram -
The Juno Power Jumpr uses lithium-ion batteries for a more-compact power source.
-
Toyota Gasoline Engine Achieves Thermal Efficiency Of 38 Percent
Most internal combustion engines are incredibly inefficient at turning fuel burned into usable energy. The efficiency by which they do so is measured in terms of "thermal efficiency", and most gasoline combustion engines average around 20 percent thermal efficiency. Diesels are typically...
Antony Ingram -
Aluminum Vehicles Save More Energy Than It Takes To Build Them
So, you've done the right thing: You've decided your next car will be considerably more fuel-efficient than the one you drive now. That's great news. But, have you considered how it's built--and more to the point, what it's built out of? A new peer-reviewed paper from the Oak Ridge National...
Antony Ingram -
'Super Greenhouse Gas' Emissions From Air Conditioning A Climate Concern
Leaking air-conditioner refrigerant may be increasingly contributing to global warming.
Stephen Edelstein -
Had To Happen: Hacking Into A Tesla Model S Electric Car
"Jailbreaking" used to mean... well, breaking out of jail. In the modern world though, it typically refers to the process of cracking software codes to take greater control of applications and user interfaces. It's rife in the world of smartphones, and now it's possible with electric vehicles...
Antony Ingram -
DoE Reboots Advanced Auto-Tech Loan Program That Funded Ford, Nissan, Tesla, Fisker
It's baaaaaaaaaaaack. U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced yesterday that the DoE had revised and updated its Advanced-Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program, which offers low-interest loans to carmakers and their suppliers. Any new loans, according to a Detroit News...
John Voelcker -
Using cameras for side mirrors isn't a new concept--manufacturers have been fitting them to concept vehicles for decades. But when it comes to road use, laws all around the world require proper mirrors, with no loopholes available for camera and screen-based systems. Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] is currently seeking approval to overturn current U.S. regulations on mirrors, says Automotive News, allowing it to fit more aerodynamic camera-based systems--such as those found on the original Model X crossover concept. As car manufacturers seek greater efficiency from their vehicles, many are turning...
-
Lit Motors C1 All-Electric Two-Wheeler Update: Still In Development (Video)
Human beings are curious beasts. Tell them something outlandish, even something backed by scientific method, and they'll try and prove it wrong anyway. Non-stick pans? Let's see what I can burn onto it! Unbreakable pen? Yeah, sure. ALSO SEE: Life With Tesla Model S: Is Pedal Placement A Problem?...
Antony Ingram -
Could Future Mazda Engines Emit Less CO2 Than Electric Cars?
Is it possible to make a gasoline engine so efficient that it would emit less carbon dioxide per mile than is created by generating electricity to run an electric car over that same mile? Small Japanese carmaker Mazda says yes. In an interview published last week with the British magazine Autocar...
John Voelcker -
GM's New 3- And 4-Cylinder Engines Face Off Against Ford, VW
Yesterday's announcement by General Motors that it would launch a new line of three- and four-cylinder Ecotec engines for better fuel economy was short on some details. Notably, the carmaker only gave two examples of future cars they would power--and even declined to identify the three existing...
John Voelcker -
GM Releases First Details On Next-Gen Ecotec Engine Family
General Motors is stepping up its engine game. Today it released first details of a new range of three- and four-cylinder Ecotec engines from 1.0 to 1.5 liters that replace no fewer than three separate engine families globally. GM had already shown one variant, a new turbocharged 1.0-liter...
John Voelcker -
Volkswagen To Triple Battery Capacity With Lithium-Air Technology?
Fossil fuels may not be the cleanest way of powering us between two points on a map, but there's little doubt they offer convenience. So far, scientists have struggled to find batteries for electric cars that match the huge amounts of energy stored in a gallon of gasoline or diesel. As a result we...
Antony Ingram -
Taking the average passenger car and making it more efficient is the combination of dozens of factors from engine technology to aerodynamics to more extreme measures like hybridization. But some factors you just can't control, like traffic, weather and the changing of traffic signals. ALSO SEE: Is Walmart's WAVE Concept Truck The Fuel-Efficient Future Of Semis? Audi thinks it can at least mitigate the latter with its latest technology though, with its traffic light recognition system. Essentially, it relies on in-car internet to connect to the traffic systems in a town or city, at which point...
-
Honda: Hybrids For Bigger Cars Now That Insight Is Going Away
Scrambling to do a bit of damage control after news broke last month that production of its Insight hybrid will end this year, Honda issued a press release touting its renewed commitment to hybrid technology. The death of the Insight model begged the question, what about the tiny two-seat CR-Z...
John Voelcker -
Sulfur In Gasoline To Fall By Two-Thirds In 2017 To Cut Emissions
New emissions standards will reduce the amount of sulfur in gasoline to 10 ppm.
Stephen Edelstein -
Gasoline-Fueled Diesel Truck Engine Cuts Fuel Use, Emissions
Running a diesel engine on gasoline could significantly improve efficiency, researchers say.
Stephen Edelstein -
Will Your Local Gas Prices Rise or Fall? Fuelcaster Knows (It Says)
A free app from Esurance claims to predict future gas prices.
Stephen Edelstein -
Lawsuit Accuses Ford Of Infringing Hybrid Technology Patents, Once More
Ford isn't having much luck with its hybrid vehicles. Don't get us wrong, they're selling well, but after complaints that Ford's hybrids couldn't hit their stated EPA mileage figures, Ford is now facing a lawsuit that accuses it of infringing on technology patents in its hybrid vehicles. Bloomberg...
Antony Ingram