Cars

Hybrid Anything: Retrofit Kit Wins Award

A former IBM engineer says his latest invention can turn regular cars into plug-in hybrids for between $3,000 and $5,000. He could be on to something.

It fits into a wheel hub and can double a car's fuel economy. That's the claim of Dr. Charles Perry, who says his plug-in hybrid retrofit kit can save America 120 million gallons of fuel per day. Big talk. But then, inventors betting on revolutionary uphevals need to talk as big as they think. The former IBM electrical engineer designed the kit to transform existing automobiles into hybrids by placing an electric motor inside each wheel. Perry recently took first prize for his invention at a green energy competition at the Tennessee Technology Development Corp.

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Ten-Foot Aston Martin Cygnet Gets 50 MPG, Plays Sidecar to Your DBS

The ultra-luxury car will be two feet shorter than a Mini Cooper, and come as an accessory to your regular Aston Martin

At ten feet long, the Cygnet is two feet shorter than the Mini Cooper, and decked out in Aston Martin luxury. Based on the Toyota iQ, but with a few extra features including an upgraded interior and external detailing meant to match the luxury design of Aston Martin's significantly more expensive roadsters, the Cygnet -- which is currently a limited concept car that might debut next year -- seats three comfortably, or a fourth passenger can squeeze in behind the driver for a somewhat tighter ride.

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Dean Kamen-Designed Electric Scooter Concept Can Run on Anything Flammable

An electric scooter in the works from Dean Kamen uses a Stirling external-combustion engine to generate power. Could burning random stuff for fuel be the next wave of transportation?

The external-combustion engine predates its internal-combustion counterpart by nearly a century. Internal combustion won out for modern automobiles by way of its more robust production of horsepower and torque. But Segway inventor Dean Kamen is working up several new uses for the venerable Stirling external-combustion engine. The latest is a electric generator that can use almost anything that burns as fuel. It's the centerpiece of a new hybrid-electric scooter that may never need recharging.

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Test Drive

Test Drive: 2010 Ford Taurus SHO

Twenty years ago, Ford took aim at European sports sedans and fired a tweaked-out Taurus across their bows. By the time the Europeans stopped laughing, that Taurus was over the horizon and gone. Now, the SHO is returning. But who’s laughing this time?

The 2010 Ford Taurus SHO reprises a work order first issued in 1989: an austere midsize car outfitted with a hotter engine and stiff suspension, which can carve canyons like an upmarket luxury sled and costs thousands less than such cars from, ahem, Those German Brands. This go-round, Ford’s added bold styling, a comfortable and attractive interior, tons of usable space, a twin-turbo V6, even more lateral grip and quicker responses. The result is a machine greater than the sum of its parts, and the best car Ford’s ever built.

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First Truly, Seriously Real Volt Prototype Leaves The Shop

The first of many production-intent test cars arrives ahead of schedule

This shiny little black car is the first real Chevy Volt—the first of many hand-built but bona-fide production-intent prototypes that will roll out of GM’s pre-production workshop in the coming weeks. This car is the next big step in the production process after the testing of the Volt “mules”—test cars with a Chevy Cruze body and a Volt powertrain. (We drove one of the mules last month; see our full review here.)

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Stop Snickering: ExxonMobil Lends Tech to Launch Electric Car

The world's largest publicly traded oil company is supporting an urban electric car-sharing program. Let the jokes commence

An oil company helping launch an electric car? The jokes write themselves. (Launch it where, into space?) But it's true: low-speed electric carmaker Electrovaya launched its Maya-300 car this week with help from ExxonMobil. The oil giant's "SuperPolymer" separator film is used in production of Electrovaya's lithium-ion battery. But wait, there's more.

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300 MPG Riversimple Urban Car Open-Sources Its Hydrogen Fuel Cell Tech

A hydrogen-powered two-seater unveiled in London this week can seat two, turn in the equivalent of 300 MPG and hit a top speed of 50 mph. Plus, its blueprints are open source. Take that, auto industry

The Riversimple Urban Car was nine years in the making. But when the diminutive, hydrogen-powered prototype debuted in London recently, the biggest difference between it and other fuel-cell vehicles wasn't its in-wheel electric motors or banks of ultracapacitors. It was its development-and-business model.

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Car of the Auto Industry of the Future: Koenigsegg-Saab Quant

For years, automotive futurists have been waiting on an industry meltdown to re-configure the auto industry. Could Sweden become ground zero?

This week, a boutique builder of million-dollar supercars snapped up an established automaker with nearly 5,000 times its yearly output of vehicles. What's the deal? Is it a matter of super-hubris or another sign of a coming paradigm shift in the auto industry?

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Low-Emissions Mayhem: Jesse James Breaks Hydrogen Speed Record

The car TV star surpasses BMW to set a new hydrogen-car speed record in a vintage streamliner with a funny name.

Call it the Dees-Milodon Engineering-Davis B Streamliner. That's the name of the vintage speedster in which automotive celeb Jesse James this week set the land speed record for a hydrogen-powered car. The daredevil star of Spike TV's "Jesse James is a Dead Man," reportedly hit just shy of 200 miles per hour in the modified, 40-year-old streamliner, breaking a previous record set by BMW.

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It's About Time

Volvo's Anti-Fender-Bender Tech Hits the Brakes For You

PopSci tests new tech that doesn't let you crash

Even the most attentive driver can become distracted, especially in city traffic. Now Volvo has your back with City Safety, a feature on the XC60 crossover SUV that can prevent or mitigate accidents and injuries at around-town speeds. We tested the technology in a dare-you-to-crash demo, steering the XC60 toward a bright-colored inflatable car at 10 mph and resisting the powerful urge to hit the brakes. The system worked like a charm, quickly stopping the 4,200-pound Volvo and avoiding a crunch with a few feet to spare.

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