Automotive

The teasers keep rolling in ahead of the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA) with Kia releasing images of a new four-door sports sedan concept. The powerplant is rumored to be a V8, but all we know for sure about the as yet unnamed car at this stage is that it seats four, is rear-wheel drive and, as you might expect from a concept car, it "signals the company’s distinctive new design direction." Read More

You may have heard people saying that most electric vehicles have plenty of range for an average driver’s daily needs, but ... how does that apply to you? It would definitely be disappointing to purchase an EV, only to discover that your driving habits are significantly more taxing that what is considered “average.” What would be good is if there was some sort of device that you could attach to your existing car, that would observe your driving habits, then tell you how a certain make and model of EV would stand up to those demands. That device, it turns out, exists in the form of the EV Profiler driving data recorder. Read More

It's a sign of the times - after 15 years of production of its retractable hardtop (vario-roof) convertible SLK series, Mercedes has given the compact roadster a diesel engine. The 204 bhp four-cylinder delivers fuel consumption of 56.5 mpg/4.16 L/100km (combined cycle), but thanks to the 2143 cc diesel engine's 500 Nm midrange and 7G-TRONIC PLUS automatic transmission, the car offers a 0-100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration time of 6.7 seconds and a top speed of 150 mph (241 km/h). Read More

The world record for a car sold at auction was smashed on Sunday when the Ferrari Testa Rossa prototype sold for US$16.4 million. The previous record (US$12.1 million) for an auctioned car belonged to a 1957 Testa Rossa, so the original prototype had been expected to capture the record in the lead up to the Gooding & Co Pebble Beach auction. That's the hammer falling in the pic, with various auction fees making up the difference between the US$14.9 million and the "record" US$16.4 million. Read More

Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) will attempt to set a new lap record for an electric vehicle at the legendary Nürburgring later this month. The attempt will be made in the TMG 100 percent electric car that is based on a two-seater sportscar chassis fitted with a high-performance electric powertrain developed by TMG. With a top speed of 260 km/h (161.5 mph) and the ability to go from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.9 seconds, the vehicle will be looking to better the current EV lap record of 9 minutes 1.1338 seconds set earlier this year by the Peugeot EX1. Read More

A few years ago the very existence of parent company General Motors was hanging in the balance but the Cadillac brand has made a spectacular comeback with an edgy design vocabulary in the CTS line and a seriously powerful headline-grabbing variant in the CTS-V coupe. The house style is sufficiently distinctive and the handling sufficiently sorted (we'll ignore the soon-to-be-killed-off Escalade) that the CTS is attracting buyers in Europe, something notoriously difficult for US car brands. Cadillac is feeling confident and that confidence was evident at Monterey last week where it unveiled a concept convertible that showcases a design direction for the future and its desire to move further upmarket, which of course, is exactly where Cadillac should be. Read More

The annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance sees the world's most original and extraordinary automobiles on display, and this year another priceless restoration joined the group. Edsel Bryant Ford’s 1934 Model 40 Special Speedster has been the subject of an extensive restoration which returned it to how it originally looked in 1940 after its final redesign by Ford and Ford's lead designer E. T. Gregorie. That a 77-year-old vehicle can have aged as gracefully as it has is testimony to the talent of those that built it. Read More

Although electric vehicles can claim to be greener by producing zero local emissions, the electricity used to charge their batteries needs to come from somewhere. For most people, that somewhere is usually a fossil fuel-powered power station, lessening the green credentials of such vehicles. In an effort to let drivers go the extra green mile, Ford and solar technology company SunPower have teamed up to offer buyers of Ford's upcoming EVs a discounted rooftop solar system to provide enough renewable energy to offset the electricity used to charge the vehicles. Read More

The Cadillac Converj luxury coupe, which made such a splash back in 2009 with its extended-range EV technology, is destined for production and will be named the Cadillac ELR. Not many details of the new ELR are available other than that it will feature an electric propulsion system made up of a T-shaped lithium ion battery, an electric drive unit, and a four-cylinder engine-generator. Read More