Car Tech

The Ford Focus Electric just rolled across the stage at the 2011 CES, and we have a small handful of photos of the car with CEO Alan Mulally. We'll have some more images and angles shortly, but for now, enjoy the show. For full details on the new Focus Electric, be sure to check out...

Rupert Stadler, Audi chairman, gave a keynote speech at CES this morning. While he spoke very little of specifics, he did lay out a missions statement for the company to continue to be a leader and to break new ground in in-car electronics. The first step in that direction is the new MMI interface...

No, you won't be blinded, but you will hopefully be kept awake with the science behind (and inside) the Anti-Sleep Pilot, the first aftermarket device designed to enhance and monitor driver alertness. Expensive and proprietary OEM systems like Mercedes-Benz's Driver Assist have been the only...

If Visteon's C-Beyond demo car, shown for the first time in North America at the CES today, is any indication, 2015 will be a year to remember for automotive tech heads. Visteon, a tier one OEM supplier behind much of what's cool in our cars today, has built the C-Beyond as an exciting peek at the...

If you're into in-car infotainment systems (and you are) you've probably heard about Chrysler's Uconnect Touch system. Built in collaboration by Garmin and Chrysler, the system's launch vehicle was the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and it's available on a number of other 2011 Chrysler vehicles...

MINI's Connected system, borrowed and reworked from corporate parent BMW, and its Pandora and Twitter app capabilities, were announced back in August, but today at the 2011 CES, we've learned a few more details. Unfortunately, what we learned is that it's a slower process than you might expect...

In-car tech has come a long way in the last few years--but what if your car isn't brand new, or wasn't offered with handy features like a backup camera or hands-free calling? You could cobble together a range of aftermarket systems, cords throughout the cabin and a 12-volt power strip plugged into...

Telematics--a fancy name for using telecommunications and information to control, assist, or otherwise interact with a vehicle--is a burgeoning field these days, but it hasn't always been that way. Until recently, a handful of luxury carmakers and General Motors' OnStar system were the only games...

Imagine being able to charge multiple portable devices, from MP3 players to USB sticks to smartphones and Bluetooth kits, in your car without having to deal with pesky cables. We all know every brand of portable device loves to you use its own proprietary charging cable but a new solution from...

Earlier today we brought you the first official word on the coming OnStar "Blue Button" retail system, and now we have the full details. Sold through Best Buy and similar retailers, available on just about any car, and packed full of features many cars don't offer, it's exactly what it sounds like...

Pay a fee, swap out your rear-view mirror, and you're ready to roll with GM's new OnStar Anywhere service, announced today from the CES show in Las Vegas. The full reveal, with details, will be coming later in the show, but stay tuned, because we'll have it all as soon as it's released. What we can...

Eyes on the road, hands on the wheel, apps in the car? That's the formula for Toyota's new Entune multimedia/app system, announced today at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. From iheartradio's 750 local radio stations to movie tickets, real-time traffic, and more, the Entune system...

Mobile phones (or other devices) are often the scapegoats for a host of evils behind the wheel, but that's not stopping the industry from pushing ever-higher levels of integration, and Entune is Toyota's latest stab at the goal. With mobile apps, Internet radio and more, it's a deep stab, too...

The Consumer Electronics Show is underway this morning and already the automotive-technology announcements are pouring out, the latest: AT&T announced it will provide wireless broadband for BMW vehicles to enhance the luxury carmaker's safety and infotainment offerings. The technology itself...

Using navigation just to get to your destination is so 2009. Now your car can tell you when you should leave your origin point to cut transit time as short as possible. You'll need a SYNC-equipped and Traffic, Directions and Information (TDI)-capable Ford car, though. The new features, announced...

Europe is already knee-deep in start-stop technology, but we Yanks haven't been invited to that party yet. Why? Because of differences in the way the U.S. tests fuel economy, for the most part. Without a real numbers difference to sell the feature, it's hard to justify the added cost. Ford...

With the 2012 Ford C-Max, the automaker wants minivans to get small and get friendlier--and now they're getting your feet involved. Following up on the first use of the technology in the European version of the 2011 BMW 5-Series, the U.S.-bound 2012 C-Max gets foot-gesture capability--meaning, with...

Thermoelectric energy regeneration sounds like a complicated topic, but it's really pretty straightforward: recapturing energy that would otherwise be wasted as heat and using it to power something. In the case of GM and Purdue University, that something is a car's electrical system. The benefits?...

We've known since the summer that Chrysler is planning a new range of eight-speed transmissions, licensed from ZF and built in the U.S., but this week the company announced it plans to move production dates up from their previous 2013 target. How early will we see the transmission? Chrysler hasn't...

Night time driving can be difficult even with excellent vision and good headlights--and it can be especially dangerous for pedestrians at the roadside. But Mercedes-Benz has been tackling this area of road safety aggressively for years now, today announcing the addition of a unique spotlight system...