Cars

DETROIT--Chevy wants the nation's youth, and it built two Hot Wheels-esque concept cars to use as bait.

The two concepts, unveiled at the 2012 North American International Auto Show, go by the names Code 130R and Tru 140S. Chevy cites the potential market of 80 million people in their '20s as the impetus for these two design studies.

The Tru 140S is intended to evoke an expensive exotic car in its styling, although its profile brings the old Pontiac Sunfire to mind. And based on the Chevy Cruze platform, with front-wheel drive and a turbocharged 1.4-liter engine, it is unlikely to provide supercar performance. … Read more

DETROIT--Cadillac returned to smaller luxury cars today with the unveiling of the 2013 ATS, a compact sedan that's meant to go head-to-head with rivals from BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz.

Following the announcement of the larger XTS a few months ago, the luxury arm of General Motors took the wraps off the ATS at the 2012 North American International Auto Show, describing the compact luxury class as central to its competitiveness.

Weighing less than 3,400 pounds, the ATS has options including a new 2-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine that's rated at 270 horsepower and the popular 3.6L V-6 … Read more

DETROIT--Last year, Ford updated the Focus, combining U.S. and European variants into a single world car. Now the company repeats that strategy with the new Fusion midsize sedan.

Ford mixed about one part Fusion with two parts Mondeo, its European midsize sedan, added one more part of new stuff, and came up with a sleek looking high tech sedan. The new car does away with the previous Fusion's three-bar grille and squarish roofline, opting for a grille that shares design language with the Fiesta and Focus. The roofline now forms a graceful line back toward the trunk.

The … Read more

DETROIT--Honda unveiled a revamped version of its storied NSX supercar at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show today, taking the wraps off a greener, sleeker, and likely fiercer sports car that already has Hollywood bragging rights.

The NSX Hybrid Concept is powered by Acura's Sport Hybrid SH-AWD (Super Handling All Wheel Drive) technology, a direct-injection, mid-mounted V-6 engine, and dual-clutch transmission.

The all-wheel drive system can deliver instant negative or positive torque to the front wheels when rounding corners, according to the company.

Honda did not release many details of the concept, and it's unclear which motor powers which wheel set. It only promised that the NSX will create handling performance unmatched in AWD cars. … Read more

So you decided not to spring for the in-dash DVD player and flip-down screens. No problem: your passengers can still watch movies on the road, using your iDevice as the source.

Launching at CES, as reported by Ubergizmo, the Philips PV7002i and PV9002i come with a pair of LCD screens designed to be mounted behind car-seat headrests. Meanwhile, your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad sits up front in a specially designed cupholder dock, which also charges the device.

The PV7002i will come with two 7-inch screens, two sets of mounting straps, the aforementioned dock, and the single cable that connects them all. The screens have built-in stereo speakers.

The PV9002i is identical, but with 9-inch screens. The kits will be priced at $169.99 and $199.99, respectively, and are due to ship in April.… Read more

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed in an interview with GigaOM that the Model X will be shown at an event on February 9.

An alpha build of the car was apparently shown to investors last month. Autoblog reports that the Model X will be shown at Tesla's design studio in Southern California.

The Model X will be Tesla's third production model, after the Roadster and Model S. Based on the same platform as the Model S, it will have a larger, SUV-like body reportedly capable of seating seven adults.… Read more

If you've ignored the naysayers, saved enough money, and splashed out on an electric car, you're probably now looking for a dedicated home-charging station. If that's the case, look no further--architect Giancarlo Zema has teamed up with Luminexence to design a bonkers yet beautiful leaf-shaped example known as the Lotus.

The Lotus--no relation to Norwich's premier manufacturer of mid-life-crisis mobiles--is a giant solar-powered piece of faux flora that delivers pure, carbon-neutral electricity captured from the sun. It comes with nighttime lights plus an optional information screen, seat and car charging port.

The Lotus is a modular system that's designed in a variety of colors and sizes. The smallest component, a single-leaf design, can be supplied on its own, or mated to other single-leaf units to form double, triple, or quad leaf setups. A large leaf, which provides 19 square meters of photovoltaic panels, is also available. Both leaf styles can be combined to resemble a curious water lily configuration.

Read more of "Luminexence Lotus solar car charger is a tree-shaped carport" at Crave UK. … Read more

Chevy sold 7,671 electric Volts last year, short of its expectation of 10,000. The car has gotten tons of publicity, but that hasn't translated into booming sales.

Even with a $7,500 tax credit dangling like a tasty carrot, buyers haven't flocked to electric vehicles like the Volt and Nissan Leaf.… Read more

After a NHTSA investigation revealed the cause of a fire in a crash-tested Chevy Volt, GM set up a program to reinforce the batteries and coolant systems for previously sold cars.

It is not a recall, but a customer satisfaction program, according to GM. The company will be contacting the approximately 8,000 Chevy Volt owners to arrange a time for the modifications.

GM will add metal brackets to the car's underbody, designed to help prevent a break in the battery casing during a side impact crash. It will also add a sensor that shows when battery coolant is low, and another bracket to prevent overfilling the coolant reservoir. … Read more