Car Tech
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Advanced battery technology startup Sakti3 has received a further round of investment capital to help bring its solid-state cells to market. A new investor, British vacuum-cleaner maker Dyson, invested a total of $15 million and signed a joint-development deal with the company. Existing funders General Motors and venture-capital firm Khosla Ventures also participated in the new round. DON'T MISS: Sakti3 Claims Solid-State Battery Breakthrough For Electric Cars (Aug 2014) Dyson hopes to integrate Sakti3's batteries, expected to have a higher energy density than today's lithium-ion cells, into...
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Why Can't Other Plug-In Hybrids Copy Chevy Volt's All-Electric Running?
The distinguishing feature of the Chevrolet Volt has always been that as long as it has charge left in its battery, it runs solely on electricity. The gasoline engine doesn't switch on even under maximum acceleration (except in certain cold-weather situations, to provide heat for the cabin and...
John Voelcker -
Goodyear Shows Concept Tire That Generates Electricity From Motion
Goodyear unveiled two concept tires at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show.
Stephen Edelstein -
Toyota Mirai Fuel-Cell Car's Ad Agency Should Study Engine Technology More Closely
Oh, Toyota ... really? It's not bad enough that your Lexus brand put out two ads that inaccurately slammed plug-in electric and diesel vehicles, respectively. Now your own agency has gone and made a foolish technical error in an ad meant to pave the way for your 2016 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell...
John Voelcker -
Nickel-Metal-Hydride Batteries For Electric Cars? Energy Density Can Rise 10-Fold: Researchers
The division is pretty clear: nickel-metal-hydride batteries are for use only in hybrids--at least those from Toyota, which has used more of the batteries than any other maker by far. Lithium-ion cells, on the other hands, are the only ones with sufficient energy density to be used in the much...
John Voelcker -
Tata AirPod Compressed-Air Car To Launch In Hawaii This Year: Report
Tata may launch an air-powered car in Hawaii.
Stephen Edelstein -
Sometimes there are cars that just make you grin. So how can you not love a tiny Japanese kei car, their minier-than-minicar class, converted into a pickup truck with its own matched travel trailer behind it? DON'T MISS: Japan's Government Clamps Down On Tiny Kei Cars, Fearing Irrelevance Kei cars are limited in height, length, width, engine displacement, and power--currently 0.66 liters and about 38 horsepower. They're tiny. But they're the only cars that can be purchased in crowded Japanese cities without the buyer having to prove that he or she has a parking space reserved. It's a very...
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2016 Toyota Mirai Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Car: A Few Things We Noticed
The 2016 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell car hasn't yet gone on sale--it'll arrive in limited regions of California in the second half of this year--but already it's been the focus of a great deal of attention. As Toyota's first production hydrogen vehicle, and the cornerstone of its future plans...
John Voelcker -
2017 Jaguar XE: Surprisingly Similar To Tesla Model 3, But For One Thing
It won't be available until the 2017 model year, its sleek body is largely made of aluminum, and it uses advanced new technology for remarkable efficiency gains over competitors. It's a sleek compact sport sedan that generated reams of coverage even before we knew anything about it, and its arrival...
John Voelcker -
Bosch eClutch: Cheaper, More Fuel-Efficient Automated Manual Gearbox
Bosch eClucth substitutes a normal hydraulic clutch for an electric one.
Stephen Edelstein -
GM To Fit CVTs To Many Car Models For Higher Fuel Economy
Most car buyers don't think a lot about transmissions. In the U.S., more than 9 out of 10 of them opt for an automatic, and that's that. But transmission technology turns out to be one of the major ways automakers are boosting gas mileage to meet tougher fuel-economy rules. And it appears GM is...
John Voelcker -
Famed Audi Quattro AWD System To Go Electric As e-Quattro
Audi will use electric all-wheel drive on future models.
Stephen Edelstein -
The Hyundai Motor Group, encompassing both the Hyundai and Kia brands, is known as one of the most aggressive competitors in the global auto business. And the company has big plans for expanding its lineup of green vehicles, as we learned in an interview last week with Ki-Sang Lee, a senior vice president who's head of its R&D Center for "eco-friendly vehicles." We spoke with Lee and several other company executives at last week's Detroit Auto Show, at which the company launched its 2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid models. The following questions have been condensed and...
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Is The 2016 Chevy Volt GM's Future Hybrid System In Disguise?
At 50 miles, the 2016 Chevrolet Volt offers the longest range of any plug-in hybrid (though the range-extended BMW i3 electric car is rated at 72 miles). Announced this week at the Detroit Auto Show, following an October technical briefing, the technology in the new Volt may turn out to hold some...
John Voelcker -
12-Volt Lithium-Ion Battery For Advanced Start-Stop Coming In 2018
Johnson Controls claims its new start-stop system can improve fuel economy up to 8 percent.
Stephen Edelstein -
CES 2015: 3 Things We Learned From Mercedes, Ford, Audi, Toyota & More
The 2015 Consumer Electronics Show took over Las Vegas this week, and more than ever, we’ve been given a glimpse into how the automotive industry may evolve and advance, technologically. We scoured the convention halls in Sin City—trust us, with all the techies in town, the biggest sin...
Matthew Askari -
2015 Ford Mustang EcoBoost: Less Power On Regular Gas
Many carmakers are using smaller engines with turbochargers to try to boost fuel efficiency in new cars, but Ford has been among the most public in promoting the technology. Its EcoBoost line of engines all use gasoline direct injection and turbochargers to produce the same power as larger engines...
John Voelcker -
Conventional Gasoline Engines A Minority In 2 Years? Not So Fast...
Progress must be coming at a much faster pace than we thought: Conventional gasoline engines will power only a minority of the new cars sold just two years hence, according to a new report. That means more than half the vehicles sold will have hybrid, diesel, natural gas, or plug-in electric...
John Voelcker -
Toyota announced today that it would make more than 5,600 patents on fuel-cell technologies available for use, free of royalty payments, to a wide array of companies in the transportation sector. Those patents include many granted for innovations that led to the production version of the Japanese maker's first hydrogen vehicle, the 2016 Toyota Mirai. DON'T MISS: Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Cars To Come From Toyota, Hyundai, Honda Announced this afternoon in Las Vegas at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, Toyota termed its offer as "opening the door to the hydrogen future" and inviting the industry to...
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Graphene May Double Solar Cell Power, Harvest Hydrogen From Air
Graphene could have a major impact on green cars.
Stephen Edelstein -
Lead Batteries Likely To Be With Us A Long, Long Time: European Study
Lead is terrible stuff: damaging to humans in even small quantities, and persistent if it's improperly disposed of. Nonetheless, it's a central element of technology that has enabled a century of automobiles to be started via ignition keys rather than hand cranks--which occasionally broke the arms...
John Voelcker -
How To Boost Efficiency: Lighter Cars That Carry More People
Efficiency is a many-splendored thing, and cutting vehicle weight has multiple beneficial effects. A lighter car requires less energy to move, meaning engine output can be lower. This, in turn, requires smaller, lighter powertrain components--which require less-beefy suspensions, further reducing...
John Voelcker -
Volvo 3-Cylinder Engine Echoes Ford, BMW, Daimler & Others With Threes
Volvo will add a three-cylinder engine to its Drive-E series.
Stephen Edelstein -
Not Just Turbocharging: Exhaust Gases Can Generate Electricity, Too
A Japanese company unveils a prototype hybrid system with an exhaust-powered generator.
Stephen Edelstein