Car Tech

Volvo has a well-established reputation of building some of the safest cars in the world but the firm believes it can improve on its own standards by reaching the ultimate goal of avoiding car accidents all together and reducing the road death toll (for drivers of its cars) to zero--a goal it hopes...

BMW has revealed its list of improvements to its ConnectedDrive infotainment technology, set to debut in a variety of BMW and MINI models from this month. Already some of the most advanced in-car entertainment and information technology on the market, ConnectedDrive now features some entirely new...

As the face of modern warfare changes, so do expectations for military vehicles. General-purpose models like the Jeep and the early Land Rover, as well as their evolutionary counterparts, the Humvee and the Snatch Land Rover, were based on old-school warfare, with an established front line. Recent...

The 2013 Dodge Dart is one of the most eagerly anticipated models of the new model year—not just because it’s the first model to be developed under pooled Fiat and Chrysler engineering resources, but because it represents a return to form for Dodge compact cars. That said, the Dart is...

Driving can be stressful, and stress is a distraction. Driving can also be boring, and that can be distracting, too. So what can be done about it? Ford is working on a system that integrates various biometric measurements like pulse, galvanic skin response, and breathing rate to determine the...

A new fast-charging system could mean Tesla Model S owners could top up their batteries in an hour.

If you've ever owned a high-performance compact car or hot hatch, you know that while they can be surprisingly versatile and practical for everyday driving and the commute, there's one thing that can completely sour the daily-driving experience: the exhaust note. Too often, go-fast four-cylinder...

Near Field Communication (NFC) keys are nothing new to the auto industry, which has embraced the concepts of keyless entry and push-button start on a near-universal basis. Getting into your car and starting it without having to dig for keys adds convenience, but will likely pay big dividends when...

Traction isn’t something that most drivers think about, since under normal weather conditions, at or near posted speed limits, there’s plenty to go around. On the race track, however, the ability to get power to the ground becomes critical. Enter the limited-slip differential, like the...

When you think of Silicon Valley's Computer History Museum, you may imagine Eniac, or a DEC PDP-8, perhaps even such early personal computers as the Altair and Apple II. Well, think SYNC, too. Curators at the museum have added Ford's SYNC in-car connectivity and communications system to its...

When it comes to building battery packs for electric cars, temperature extremes are the enemy of battery range. To deliver optimum results, electric car batteries need to be kept within a fairly narrow band of ideal operating temperatures. To get around this, thermal conditioning is used to...

It appears that Cadillac will offer its hands-off adaptive cruise control on one or more vehicles for the 2014 model year--at least if one high-ranking executive is to be believed. Appearing at the Driverless Car Summit in Detroit yesterday, Gary Smyth, executive director of GM's North American...

With the launch of a single app (and a new mobile device operation system), Apple has apparently managed to make portable and in-car navigation systems all but obsolete. Announced at this week’s Apple World Wide Developer’s Conference, Apple Maps promises to deliver unprecedented levels...

About a month ago we found a patent by Apple for an in-car remote control system. At the time, we weren't completely sure what that patent was for, assuming it had to do with music. It still might, but today Apple announced that it is integrating its voice-command service called Siri with the...

Porsche has shown that with a little innovation, the manual transmission can remain relevant in a world where regular automatics and newer dual-clutch units offer faster shifts and better economy. Porsche’s solution was to create a seven-speed manual by modifying the design of its seven-speed...

When it comes to console driving simulator games, the Gran Turismo series for Playstation and the Forza Motorsport series for Xbox have always favored action over plot. Those wanting a bit more plot with their racing had to settle for games like the Need For Speed series, which (generally) told a...

Being a teenage gearhead geek in the 1980s was bittersweet. Since the Trapper Keeper’s calendar was never full of dates with cheerleaders (or honestly, many girls of any clique), it left more than a few evenings open for television shows like Knight Rider. While the 300 mph top speed was a...

While in the U.S. firms such as Google are attempting to revolutionize mobility by doing away with the driver completely, over in Europe researchers are taking smaller steps towards making autonomous driving a reality. For the past couple of years we’ve been bringing you details about the...

Airbags inside of automobiles are nothing new, and have saved thousands of lives worldwide since being put into widespread use. Volvo, always at the forefront of vehicle safety, believes that airbags can be used to protect pedestrians, too. According to Volvo’s research, 25-percent of traffic...

Google’s fleet of self-driving cars may soon be heading to California, with the state’s Senate passing a bill this week that would allow the autonomous cars to be tested and operated on its roads. The bill, which establishes guidelines for the use of autonomous cars on public roads...