Brake issue is pausing sales of popular Toyota hybrids overseas, not in US

2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid  -  2015 NY Auto ShowA potential manufacturing fault relating to brake hardware has prompted Toyota to conduct an investigation that reaches around the globe. The issue has led to a stop-sale in Australia and New Zealand, among other markets, and affects the hybrid versions of the Toyota RAV4, Camry, Prius, Corolla hatchback, Lexus ES300h, and Lexus UX250h. While the...

2019 Tesla Model 3 crash test secures 5-star safety for entire lineup

2019 Tesla Model S Dual Motor Long Range  -  NHTSA frontal crashThe federal government has crashed another Tesla Model 3. And once again, the results are something that Tesla, its owners and acolytes, and anyone considering one of these electric cars can agree is good news. With tests newly posted for the 2019 Tesla Model 3 Long Range Dual Motor (all-wheel drive) version, the entire Model 3 lineup now earns...

Volkswagen tests AI-informed design process to cut weight—and flaunt it

Volkswagen Type 20 Microbus conceptElectric vehicle makers face a weight dilemma. Shoppers want more range, and each extra kilowatt-hour of lithium-ion battery-pack capacity adds as much weight as carrying 2 or 3 gallons of extra gasoline around all the time. Yet the more a vehicle weighs, the more energy it takes to move it and its occupants from place to place. Without the extra...

2020 Hyundai Sonata will emit less with new valve-duration tech

2020 Hyundai SonataHyundai last week announced that it has developed what it claims is the world’s first mass-production continuously variable valve duration (CVVD) technology. The company asserted the new valve tech, headed into versions of the 2020 Hyundai Sonata, will produce significant improvements in emissions, fuel efficiency, and performance. The...

Electric Volkswagen Type 20 Microbus concept ties the past to the future

Volkswagen Type 20 Microbus conceptGiven the enthusiastic reception lavished on Volkswagen’s production-bound ID Buzz concept—that’s the 2022 revival of the Microbus, in all-electric form—the automaker’s transformation can’t come soon enough. So today as part of the dedication of a Silicon Valley facility focused on the future, Volkswagen decided...

Volkswagen talks through Europe’s tough new emissions tests

Portable Emissions Measurement Systems (PEMS) on a Peugeot 308From the U.S., we most often encounter European WLTP standards in the context of sizing up plug-in driving range for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids that haven’t yet been rated by the EPA. The Worldwide Harmonised Light-Vehicle Test Procedure, is however taking form as the most comprehensive emissions program in the world, replacing...