Car Tech

Less than six years after promising the world a car capable of returning a fuel economy of 1.0 liter of fuel burned per 100 kilometers driven, roughly equivalent to an insane 235 mpg, Volkswagen has done even better, revealing today, in production trim, a car capable of returning a fuel economy of...

A couple of weeks ago Pagani released a mysterious teaser video filled with clues about the supercar manufacturer’s latest project. This quickly got the rumor mill churning, with some suggesting Pagani was about to debut a convertible version of its latest Huayra supercar. Even we suggested...

First it was Nevada that allowed a commercial entity, in this case Google, to start testing an autonomous car on its roads, including alongside other motorists. Soon after Florida and California passed legislation to allow the self-driving cars to be allowed on their respective roads, with...

As advanced as internal combustion piston engines have become over the past few decades, they’re still hampered by a few basic design limitations. Chief among these is the camshaft, which opens and closes the intake and exhaust valves via a mechanical linkage. In the days before variable...

If you’re a new driver, you know that the cost of car insurance can, in some cases, be more than the cost of your first car. Get a ticket, or have an at-fault accident, and you may find yourself with the kind of insurance rates that would make Bill Gates wince, if your company doesn’t...

Remember the Hybrid Air drivetrain concept from French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen? Well, the revolutionary technology, which is essentially a hybrid drive system that instead of using electric motors to support an internal combustion engine, uses compressed air, will be appearing at the 2013...

The latest 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is one the most anticipated sports cars of the year, but it’s not purely because of the car’s striking looks, supercar-like performance and much improved interior. No, it’s because the latest Corvette, a C7 to all the fans, is also one...

Every day in the United States, some 10 people are killed and 1,100 injured in crashes relating to distracted driving. While those are the official tallies released by the Department of Transportation, the actual number is likely much higher; after all, few drivers will admit that they didn’t...

If you wear glasses to correct your vision, chances are good you already know the benefits of polycarbonate lenses over glass ones. Not only are polycarbonate lenses significantly lighter, they’re also much more impact-resistant than glass. Polycarbonate windows have been used in racing cars...

Speaking solely from a technology point of view, Google believes that autonomous cars will be a reality in three to five years. For the most part, the hardware exists today, so the stumbling block is really perfecting the software and firmware. As Bloomberg points out, the obstacles that autonomous...

Back in 2008, Volvo made the bold promise of zero injuries or deaths in its vehicles by 2020. Now, just five years on, the automaker is predicting that it will be able to eliminate crashes altogether for anyone driving one of its cars by the same 2020 deadline. To achieve its ambitious and somewhat...

Recent reports have suggested that Audi’s new autonomous driving system, dubbed “Piloted Driving” by the German luxury automaker, will debut on its A8 flagship sedan around the year 2016. Audi recently showcased its Piloted Driving autonomous system at the 2013 Consumer...

General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] is overhauling the structure of its powertrain division, including investing up to $200 million in the construction of a new testing facility and consolidating several other facilities with its Global Powertrain Engineering Headquarters in Pontiac, Michigan. The...

If you own a newer Apple iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch running iOS 6, you probably already know how helpful Siri can be. Though far from flawless, Siri is like a virtual assistant standing by to answer (almost) any question. Apple has been developing a Siri feature called Eyes Free that takes the...

Major automotive supplier Bosch has given an update on the development of its autonomous car technology, which it says will first start appearing on new cars by as early as 2014. The development of autonomous car technology is a gradual one but it’s already in its deeper stages. That's...

Audi has been a pioneer in the world of autonomous cars, having tested a self-driving TT sports car for several years and more recently becoming the first automaker to attain Nevada’s license for the use of autonomous cars on its roads. At the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show earlier this...

From the same company that brought us the world’s first diesel-electric hybrid, comes a new concept that does away with the electric component of hybrid cars and replaces it with compressed air instead. That company is French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen, which at its recent Innovation Day...

While it may seem like an unlikely occurrence, cars traveling in the wrong direction of traffic is becoming more and more prevalent. Just last year for example, even we reported on two such occurrences, one taking place in Mississippi and the other in Washington. Back in 2009 Nissan developed a...

In Greek mythology, Atlas was burdened with carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. In the Ford product line, that task goes to its F-150 pickup, which sells in higher volumes (and likely at higher margins) than any other vehicle in its catalog. It’s fitting, then, that Ford would...

A modern global auto plant has no discernible nationality. Aside from language and perhaps the ethnicities of its workers, the inside of the latest engine plant on one continent is identical to the same location in a similar plant on another continent. That was clear at the opening of...