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...

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...

Tesla Model 3 transformed into DIY electric pickup

Tesla Model 3 pickup truck 'Truckla'Waiting and waiting for more details about the upcoming Tesla Pickup—the “cyberpunk truck”—or concerned that it’s going to be too big when it arrives? You could essentially build your own. That’s what San Francisco YouTube star Simone Giertz did, from a Tesla Model 3. In the project, which declares it’s...

Tesla Model X highway patrol car ready to chase Australian bad guys

Victoria, Australia, Tesla Model X police carIf there are two things you learn about police cars from watching cop shows on TV, it's that they should be both fast and stealthy to sneak quickly into sketchy situations. What better option than a Tesla Model X? That's what the police in the Australian state of Victoria are thinking at the moment, anyway. The Victoria police department just...

No puncture, no pressure: GM could offer airless Michelin tire in 2024 EV

Michelin Uptis prototype tire, on Chevrolet Bolt EVMichelin yesterday revealed a comprehensive look at what some cars could be rolling on in just five years: the company’s first airless passenger-vehicle tire. The Uptis Prototype (Unique Puncture-proof Tire System) is a wheel/tire combination made primarily of rubber, aluminum, and a new resin-embedded fiberglass-reinforced material...

Volkswagen ID R sets new EV lap record at Nürburgring

Volkswagen ID R at NürburgringVolkswagen's new ID R electric race car continues setting records. After obliterating the record climbing Pikes Peak—not just for electric cars, but for all cars—last June, on Monday, the car set the lap record for electric cars at Germany's famously demanding Nürburgring race track. At the Nürburgring, the electric ID R...

Electric car ads: Latest from Nissan and Audi take very different approaches

2019 Nissan Leaf PlusDoes driving an electric car feel like flying? Nissan has released a new ad campaign for its Leaf electric car suggesting that—and featuring professional wingsuit flyer Roberta Mancino. At one point, with the road turning electric blue below and behind the car, the car turns into a wingsuit, allowing Mancino, the driver, to glide down from a...

First all-electric airline could soar with converted old seaplanes

Harbour Air De Havilland DHC-2 Mk III Beaver flying out of Vancouver, B.C. (Credit: Harbour Air)By land, by sea, and by air, battery power is expanding to drive all kinds of transportation. The most challenging of these modes may be air travel. It's harder to loft several thousand pounds of batteries into the air, to make them last potentially an hour or more. And if they run out of juice, pilots can't just pull over and call for a tow...