Car Tech

Our pal Jason Fenske at Engineering Explained addresses one of the most commonly-asked questions about car maintenance: should you use synthetic motor oil or conventional motor oil in your car? The safe answer, of course, is to read your car's owner's manual and follow the automaker's directions...

Within days of it emerging that a driver of a Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] Model S died on May 7 when his electric sedan in semi-autonomous Autopilot mode ran under a trailer that was in the process of turning across a highway located in Florida, a Model X suffered a crash, this time in Pennsylvania...

Japan says that it will begin allowing automakers to ditch side mirrors in favor of cameras that allow for a wider viewing angle and can help improve vehicle aerodynamics. The move would make Japan the first country to specifically allow the technology, which could soon replace conventional...

General Motors says that it has worked with NASA to bring the Nintendo Power Glove to life—well, a far more sophisticated version of the raddest part from "The Wizard." (And yes, that includes Fred Savage.) The RoboGlove is designed for both the health care and manufacturing industries. Its...

It’s been over a year since Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] revealed its new F-150 Raptor but there’s still plenty to learn about this performance-oriented, off-road pickup. This week Ford revealed details about the vehicle’s drive modes selector which has six modes capable of...

Backup cameras will soon become mandatory in all new cars, but for those of us with an older vehicle, solutions tend to be pricey and cumbersome to install. A company called Pearl, which is composed almost entirely of former Apple engineers, says it has created a solution called RearVision. It's a...

Dual-clutch gearboxes are becoming increasingly common, and today's versions of these fast-shifting automatic gearboxes are far better than they were just a few years ago when they first hit the consumer market. Our friend Jason Fenske at Engineering Explained takes a look at these transmissions in...

Most drivers don't often think about the temperature of their tires, but rubber that has too much ice or snow buildup can significantly reduce traction—even winter tires. Mercedes-Benz appears to be thinking about tire temperatures, though. DON'T MISS: 9 safety tricks the 2017 Mercedes-Benz...

A stretch of Route 66 in Missouri will step well into the 21st century soon when it becomes the first stretch of road in the Untied States to be covered with pavers that double as solar panels. The Missouri Department of Transportation applied recently for a grant that would allow it to test new...

Volvo’s all-new 2017 S90 sedan and upcoming 2018 V90 wagon, like the XC90 crossover introduced this past year, are packed with safety technology. If you’re familiar with Volvo’s reputation, that’s probably no surprise. Volvo has been at the forefront in occupant safety for...

Yes, there's a lot more to car maintenance than simply changing the oil. One of the most overlooked aspects is an engine's cooling system, which is as crucial to car owners in Arizona as it is to those in Alaska. Here, our friend Jason Fenske, the host of the ever-popular Engineering Explained...

Lamborghini has been researching lightweight materials for use on its cars for more than three decades and has dedicated research facilities set up to develop new and better materials. One of the automaker’s more recent developments was forged composites, which is nearly as strong as...

Audi was a pioneer of the dual-clutch transmission, having offered it in its original TT sports car as far back as the early 2000s. DCTs combine lightning-fast gear changes with the convenience of an automatic and fuel economy of a conventional manual transmission, so they quickly became popular...

Just a week ago, we invited you to come along and learn about air suspension systems. Our friend Jason Fenske at Engineering Explained created a video discussing what air suspension is and how it works. Now he's back with a second video that dives a bit more deeply into the air ride world. This...

Does a bus really need a driver? IBM and crowd-sourcing automotive outfit Local Motors don't think so, as their new Olli concept recently demonstrated on the roads near Washington, D.C. ALSO SEE: Deployable mobile tire spikes could stop you in your tracks Calling Olli a concept might be a bit...

Electric cars are showing up all over the place, but hydrogen fuel-cell cars have lagged behind, with only three Asian makers committed to offering them in the U.S. That's partly because setting up a network of hydrogen stations to fuel them is slow and expensive. Now Nissan has a better idea...

A lot of new cars and trucks are available with air suspension. A better name for the technology is air springs, as air suspension is essentially an alternative to the more familiar steel springs found on most cars and leaf springs found on older trucks. As the name suggests the technology uses air...

The biggest hindrance to electric cars has been their limited range and poor battery durability. However, thanks to companies like Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] electric cars are starting to catch up with their internal-combustion counterparts as we now have some that can travel more than 300 miles on a...

Anyone that’s owned a plug-in car of some sort will know the pain of coming home late, fiddling around with a cable and actually plugging the car in for charging. The solution to this admittedly minor problem is wireless inductive charging, where to start the charging process one need only...

Mercedes-Benz is spending up big on technology to reduce the average emissions of its fleet. The automaker has committed to spending almost $8 billion in just the next two years on green technology, including everything from clean diesels to fuel cells to next-generation batteries for electric...