Car Tech

All that sitting in front of the TV watching bad sitcoms could pay off, if a new electric motor proves successful in field trials. A startup in Melbourne, Australia, has developed a new motor for use in an electric-powered Holden Commodore. There's nothing wildly special about that, but the new...

As any Chevrolet Volt owner will tell you, the range-extended electric car concept is very well adapted to the average car ownership experience. The majority of your daily driving can be accomplished on electricity alone, but there's always that engine there waiting to back you up should a longer...

We often cover the progress of battery technologies here on Green Car Reports, and while always of interest, few new discoveries are really that surprising. The potential of a biomineral found in the teeth of a marine snail isn't one of those unsurprising discoveries. Studies at the University of...

It's taken a while for carmakers to begin fitting stop/start systems to U.S. vehicles, such systems' benefits not really advertised to consumers in a car's EPA numbers. In the real world though, many manufacturers say the systems can save you significant amounts of fuel--particularly if you...

One of the prices we pay for discovering new, daily life-enhancing technologies, is occasionally inventing something that turns out to be less than ideal from an environmental perspective. That was true of air conditioning, the refrigerants contained chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. Often known under...

A popular myth among detractors of hybrid and electric vehicles is that the energy and materials that go into making batteries far outweighs any good they do under ownership. Batteries aren't as damaging as many suspect though, since so many of a battery's components can be recycled. Honda is doing...

Last week, three members of High Gear Media's editorial staff sat down to discuss Mercedes-Benz, AMG, and their future technologies. The participants were editorial director Marty Padgett, social media manager Joel Feder, and senior editor Nelson Ireson--and they appeared in a Google+ 'Hangout on...

New battery technology is five years away, and always will be. Well, that's the impression you might get whenever new technology is announced. Some of it is very, very clever indeed, but much of it is only theoretical, and the rest has rarely been tested on suitably large scales. Silicon...

It isn't just fossil fuels that are a finite resource--rubber is another substance in high demand, and short supply. The latest estimates suggest that global demand for rubber is expected to outstrip supply by 20 percent, by 2020. That will inevitably lead to raised prices--bad news, considering...

The quest toward better gas mileage and incremental gains isn't relegated just to engine and transmission improvements, or to aerodynamics or weight reduction. Even when we're not talking hybrids, the move to smart electric components can bring some significant gains. Beyond electric power...

Solar power and electric cars go hand-in-hand, and many owners equip their homes with solar panels to ensure the electricity they're charging with is as green as possible. That isn't always the case when charging away from home, but it would be if your local parking spot had a 'V-Tent' system. The...

MyFord Mobile, Ford's smartphone app for the Ford Focus Electric, will soon be available on the brand's plug-in hybrid models too. The app allows customers to manage vehicle functions from their smartphone, such as viewing the state of charge, timing charging sessions, setting cabin temperature and...

General Motors has announced more shuffling of its future-tech facilities. Back in October, the automaker shut down a fuel cell center in Honeoye Falls, New York and shifted operations (along with 220 jobs) to Pontiac, Michigan. Outposts in Torrance, California, Castleton, Indiana, and Warren...

Plug-in electric cars get a lot of press, perhaps more than their current sales might warrant. It's clear to industry analysts that the proportion of plug-ins among new cars produced will grow, slowly, over the coming years and decades. But don't count the gasoline engine out just yet. The rate of...

In order to improve the aerodynamics of new vehicles—and boost their highway gas mileage—automotive engineers have looked to a new series of seemingly minor features that add up to meaningful gains in EPA ratings. One of them is the active grille shutters that have become increasingly...

It's quite easy to forget that cars have been using batteries for years before hybrids and electric vehicles arrived. The humble lead-acid battery, the planet's most recycled product, has been starting engines and providing power for car electrics ever since such a thing was required. Now, battery...

Wireless charging is nothing new--but it could be the next widely-used technology in the world of electric cars. That's according to Pike Research, which suggests wireless charging sales will surpass 280,000 by 2020. The group cites the partnerships of several electric vehicle manufacturers with...

There are three main paths to improving batteries for future electric vehicles. One is the development of entirely new technology replacing today's batteries entirely with something lighter, more powerful and more energy dense. The next is the greening of batteries--reducing their environmental...

However you choose to enjoy herbal products, the last place you'd expect to find them is in your electric car battery. Thanks to a new discovery though, the Madder plant, also known as Rubia, could prove useful as a natural cathode in batteries. Madder has long been used as a source of purpurin, an...

Concept cars used to be flights of fancy, vehicles designed solely to grab attention when a carmaker's regular products were lacking visual verve. In more recent times, they've been so much more than that. They still look extreme and showcase blue-sky technology, but concepts now give us a much...