Car Tech

Battery cooling is an area of contension in electric cars. Some, like Nissan, avoid using a coolant fluid with the batteries on the Leaf, as it reduces costs. Others, like Tesla, use cooling and thermal management to ensure the pack stays in its optimum operating range--beneficial for performance...

Many electric car owners consider the debate over charging points all a bit of a fuss. After all, when the majority of your driving is between home and the office, then charging at one of those two locations will usually suffice. The presence (or otherwise) of chargers at rest stops or spread...

Inspiration can come from the strangest of places, but in the fast-paced world of electric car technology you might not expect it to come from one hundred years ago. However, when the idea came from Thomas Edison you might be able to understand why scientists have given it another look. The...

If you've ever climbed into a car and struggled to find a place to put that one item you like to carry around, then Tesla might have the solution for you. Tesla Motors has announced details of its 'Opportunity Console', a new concept for the console between the front seats that will allow owners to...

If you took away all the technology developed through motor sport or the military from regular cars, we'd be surprised if you were left with something driveable. Between materials, electronics, safety devices and mechanical components, a great deal of modern automotive technology has been developed...

There are plenty of advantages to diesel engines: High fuel efficiency, low CO2 emissions, and in modern turbocharged applications, plenty of easy-to-access torque and power. However, they aren't without their faults--expense, particulate emissions and a lack of smoothness compared to the best...

There's a phrase oft-quoted in the automotive world when the topic of lighter cars is discussed. The phrase, "add lightness", originated from Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus Cars and builder of some of the best sports cars and racing vehicles ever made. And the influence has remained--Lotus still...

If you've seen the animated Pixar film WALL-E, you'll remember a scene where humanity, after generations of being on a space ship where everything is done for them, are hugely overweight and never get out of their hovering chairs to interact with the world. That was the scene that came to mind when...

Incentives are nothing new in the world of car buying. Discounts here, extended warranties there--we've all made use of them at some stage. When you're targeting a car exclusively at younger buyers, as Scion does, sometimes the incentives need to be a little more inventive. That's why it's giving...

Pittsburgh-based aluminum giant Alcoa has developed a new coating for its aluminum building panels that passively sucks in airborne pollutants and transforms them into harmless substances. Appropriately enough, the new panels are getting one of their first commercial tryouts at a new regional...

Is there a more depressing sight when driving than seeing the brake lights of hundreds of cars ahead on the freeway suddenly illuminating? Even if there's no accident or construction work causing the mass slow-down, it takes only a few drivers miles ahead to bring traffic behind to a complete halt...

"Ferrari hybrid" is right up there with "Porsche diesel" and "Bentley SUV" as far as oxymorons go. Even so, Porsche has been producing diesels for several years now, soon to hit the U.S, and Bentley showed an SUV concept at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, so maybe it isn't that unusual after all...

Is noise in cars a good or a bad thing? We suspect many of our readers would classify it under the latter, and prefer to drive in the serene silence of most hybrids and electric cars. There are others who think differently though, and for them, technology is here to help. An app called XLR8...

Like it or not, the humble gasoline engine still has a lot to give to the automobile world. Yes, they use fossil fuels that could be better used elsewhere, but while pure electric vehicles and even hybrids remain relatively expensive, improving the efficiency of regular internal combustion engines...

Ford has announced pricing for the stop-start system on the 2013 Ford Fusion. Usually a system fitted to hybrid vehicles, the Fusion is the first non-hybrid midsize sedan available with stop-start technology, which cuts the engine at a standstill to save gas. Ford claims the system improves...

Drivers of hybrid and electric vehicles will be used to the feel of regenerative braking. As you brake, or even lift off the accelerator pedal in some electric vehicles, kinetic energy from the car's motion is captured by the electric motor, which when not being driven turns into a generator. This...

If you stop and think about it, electric drivetrains are actually very well suited to the rarified world of supercars. Some of the EV's normal negative points - expense, lack of range - are less of a problem in low-volume, low-usage supercars. Throw a high-performance electric motor in the mix, and...

As automotive journalists, April 1 is the day we get to let our collective hair down and write stories about cars that sound plausible, but are purely fictitious. All in the spirit of April Fool’s day, of course. But sometimes our April Fool’s pranks get a little close to reality, as...

You may not know this, but internal combustion engines are only efficient during a tiny part of their total operating range. And that means when driving at lower speeds when demand on the car’s engine isn’t large, your car might not get the gas mileage you’d expect. But...

In addition to tailpipe emissions and greenhouse gases, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also regulates other materials in cars that may emit substances harmful to humans. And so it is that the 2013 Cadillac XTS large luxury sedan will become the first U.S. vehicle to use a new refrigerant...