BMW

BMW added text-to-speech capability in its latest update of the BMW Connected iPhone app. The new release adds a play button to the iDrive system that will read Twitter and Facebook status updates to you while you're in the car.

When an iPhone equipped with the BMW Connected app is connected to the vehicle's mobile-phone docking station, drivers can use the iDrive controller to play new Twitter and Facebook messages.

I haven't had the chance to test this new feature, and don't know how the text-to-speech capability will treat abbreviations or what it will do with hashtags in Twitter. But if you must stay up to date with your tweets, it's probably better, or at least safer, than reading them on your mobile phone at stoplights.

BMW also added iPhone Calendar integration that will let you view appointments for the day, week, or month and read them out loud. … Read more

The EPA doubles fuel economy by 2025, BMW shows off an electric car, Nissan complains about an electric car review, and drivers think about stopping.

• New EPA regs are out

• BMW i reveals electric car concepts

• Nissan calls out 'Top Gear' over Leaf review

• Mazda Minagi concept becomes CX-5 at Frankfurt auto show

• Drivers put the brakes on with thought alone

One of the biggest hurdles for fuel cell technology to overcome is finding an energy-efficient and cost-effective way to create hydrogen fuel. But what if we could convert landfill gas to hydrogen?

BMW is working on a project to turn the methane gas generated by landfills into hydrogen. For the past eight years, the auto manufacturer has been collecting, cleaning, and compressing methane gas from a landfill near its Spartanburg, S.C., assembly plant, and using the clean fuel to power more than 50 percent of the facility's total energy needs.

That move has reduced the plant's carbon … Read more

BMW revealed two new electric car concepts that will be launched under its new i brand in Germany early this morning. The BMW i3 city car and the BMW i8 will be the auto manufacturer's first production vehicles designed from the ground up as electric or plug-in hybrids, rather than starting as an existing model and swapping the gas engine for an electric motor.

The BMW i3 is an electric vehicle designed for urban environments. Formerly called the MegaCity Vehicle, the EV is powered by a 125 kW electric motor that offers drivers an 80-mile electric driving range. The … Read more

MUNICH, Germany--I might have thought I was in Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Guggenheim Museum, but that was just a visual trick brought on by the spiral ramp.

Actually, I was at the BMW Museum, the car-maker's homage to its eight decades of making automobiles, motorcycles, and engines. And with 125 of its most beloved machines displayed for its biggest fans and most loyal customers, it was hard not to be taken in by the history of what the company long called the "ultimate driving machine."

As part of Road Trip 2011, I took some time to … Read more

Fiat is the latest to launch its own Apple iPad application, joining Ford, Hyundai, and others.

According to the Italian automaker, the free app offers a close-up look of the 2012 Fiat 500--including a historical design timeline of the iconic Fiat 500.

Consumers can delve into the galleries of four emerging artists, including a graffiti artist, a 17-year-old professional photographer, a painter and sculptor, and an illustrator.

The Fiat Source app will also include a Fiat 500 vehicle catalog, with detailed 360-degree images, "colorizer," videos, and product information, as well as wallpaper and sketch downloads.

"The Fiat … Read more

Paving the way for the wave of electric vehicles poised to enter the market, Coulomb Technologies announced that it will be installing 150 ChargePoint stations in the Boston metropolitan area.

The planned installations are part of Coulomb's $37 million ChargePoint America project funded by the Department of Energy. The 150 networked EV charging stations will be installed primarily within the Route 495 Beltway, and available for use by any ChargePoint member. After they are built and go online, drivers can find the stations using the ChargePoint iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android apps. TomTom GPS users will also be able to … Read more

In this episode of Roadside Assistance, we help a listener find a BMW, we got no love for Lexus, help another listener with their Droid X mounting, and we find out that we were drunk.

• LOLcars (photos)

The next BMW you step into may not look anything like the sports cars the company is known for. And you might also be sharing the ride with hundreds of other people.

BMW's DesignworksUSA announced a contract to design future trains for Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), the commuter rail system serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The contract calls for DesignworksUSA to design the exterior, interior, and train operator controls.

The current trains on the BART system, despite their streamlined look, are actually the oldest fleet of commuter rail cars in the country. The rail system uses a … Read more