vehicles

Are Wireless Road Trains the Cure for Traffic Congestion?

The concept of road trains--up to eight vehicles zooming down the road together--has long been considered a faster, safer, and greener way of traveling long distances by car. And now, thanks to a European Union-financed ...READ»

AIDA - Your Robotic Car Co-Pilot of the Future - Now With Video

Last week we introduced you to AIDA (the Affective Intelligent Driving Agent)--get used to her if you can. MIT and Audi are hoping that this robot, or one that looks even more like Pixar's EVE, may be gracing your car's dashboard to ...READ»

EPA's Porous Pavement Cuts Down on Parking Lot Pollution

Parking lots have a nasty tendency to harbor all the oil, grease, and antifreeze that leak from vehicles. And after a heavy rain, all those substances mix together and take a trip to the closest porous surface--no matter whether ...READ»

Fisker Buys Old GM Plant to Make 'Project Nina,' a $40K EV for Families

We've gotten excited about Fisker's Karma electric car before--it's dashingly attractive for an eco-friendly vehicle. But Fisker will only make a big dent in carbon emissions if it makes a family car. Which it will now do in ...READ»

Can the U.S. Become the EV Battery Leader?

Many of our most promising electric cars have parts--or entire assemblies--being built in China. But when it comes to the most important (and most expensive) component, EV companies may turn to American manufacturers. One such ...READ»

Chicagoland Dealer is Home to Northern Il GM Program Cars!

Tom Sparks Auto; The little Store With Low Overhead And A low price.READ»

Is VW's Electric E-Up The Beetle of the 21st Century?

The electric car really is due at a showroom near you, we can confirm, because VW, maker's of the "people's car" will have one in 2013. VW's even dubbing the E-Up the "Beetle of the 21st Century". Can this lofty claim be ...READ»

The Problem with Germany's Cash for Clunkers: The Clunkers Don't Get Trashed

It's always important to keep unintended consequences in mind with multi-billion dollar programs like Cash for Clunkers. Take the problem of Germany's Cash for Clunkers program, which debuted in January. As in the U.S. program, ...READ»

Cash for Clunkers Might Siphon Money from Renewable Energy Loans

In theory, Cash for Clunkers is a great program.  Want to get rid of your old, polluting car? The U.S. government will give you up to $4,500 to replace it with a fuel-efficient one. Cash for Clunkers has been so popular that ...READ»

Google's G1 Designers Reinvent the Electric Car With ATNMBL

Designers Mike and Maaike, already famous for the odd-looking Google G1 phone, have taken a stab at reinventing the concept of the car. Gone are speed, danger and human drivers, in are comfort, efficiency... and slowness. The team is ...READ»

Bikes Outsold Cars at the Start of 2009. Does It Matter?

Both automobile and bicycle purchases fell overall in the first quarter of 2009, but in a surprising twist, bike sales trumped car sales (2.6 million bicycles vs. 2.5 million cars). And while bike sales are down 30% overall from the ...READ»

Renault Unveils Prototype Be Bop Z.E. Electric Car: The Shape of Things to Come?

Renault just pulled the covers off its technology demonstrator Be Bop Z.E. all-electric car. It's going to tour Europe to show off its cleverness, and its drive train will actually end up in future Renault EVs from 2011 onwards.As it ...READ»

What Will Cars Look Like in 2049?

The U.K.'s Royal College of Art recently launched a competition asking students to design the future of Opel/Vauxhall automobiles in 40-years time. Only 19 students entered, but the results are impressive ...READ»

U.K.'s Bee.One 3G Enabled Electric Car Won't Cost Much

Electric cars are clearly all the rage: a new U.K. start-up company is getting its Bee.One electric vehicle ready, scheduled to hit the roads sometime around 2011. But unlike many other EV cars out there, the One is going to be as ...READ»

Electric Vehicle Makers Agree on a Universal Standard Plug for Charging

A suite of big-name manufacturers including Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Fiat, Toyota, and Mitsubishi, have agreed on a common standard for the plugs used for charging electric vehicles. According to German energy company RWE, ...READ»

GM Greens-up the Yukon Denali SUV, Is It in Vain?

Greening-up conventional cars is very laudable, but when it comes to the most gas-guzzling eco-disaster family vehicle out there--the SUV--sometimes it's better to admit defeat and move on. The SUV in this instance is the ...READ»

Tata Nano: Meet the World's Cheapest Car

Tata, an Indian auto maker, is unveiling its Nano car today. The animating idea is that the Nano has been designed to bring road transportation to the masses in India, particularly people who'd never had access to a vehicle before. ...READ»

• Tata Nano: What's the Environmental Impact of 14 Million More Cars in India?

EDAG's Light Car is a Tiny, Eco-Friendly KITT

Electric vehicles are hot news at the Geneva Motor Show this year, but EDAG's new concept vehicle is standing out from the crowd by taking a chunk of inspiration from the new Knight Rider--the car's exterior is a user-configurable ...READ»

The Namir: The Sleekest, Fastest Hybrid Car That Won't Be Built

Think "hybrid eco-powered car" and you think "Prius" right? Well you shouldn't. You should substitute the mental image of that conventional, if revolutionary auto for the Frazer-Nash Namir from Giugiaro for two ...READ»

• 8 Concept Cars That'll Never See Production

Toyota's Seaweed Cars Take Green Design to a Whole New Level

Whether or not cars use alternative fuel engines or regular gasoline ones, their overall manufacture isn't really very green at all. But that may only be until Toyota's latest idea becomes a reality, because the car giant is ...READ»

First Aptera Electric Cars Roll Out: Vehicle of the Future?

Electric cars have gotta be the way of the future with their clean emission-free engines...but are they all going to look as strange as the tricycle-wheeled Aptera? The first pre-production vehicles rolled out recently, and the ...READ»

Mercedes BlueZERO Eco Cars To Come With Three Alternative-Fuel Options

The automotive industry may be in financial tatters at least in the US, but progress marches on, and the future of cars is going to be alternative fuels, for oil-shortage and environmental reasons. Mercedes-Benz knows this, so it's ...READ»

• Inside The Chevy Volt [pics]
• 6 Electric Cars Coming Soon [pics]

Eight Concept Cars That'll Never See Production

Sure, concept cars feature dreamy style and technological innovations that we'd love to see roll out in manufacturer's lineups. Unfortunately, safety, practicality, and cost often prohibit these cars from ending up in anyone's driveway. These are the ones we'd like to see on the road.READ»