The Car Tech blog

Students at the Bochum University of Applied Sciences in Germany are going on the road trip of a lifetime.

In a two-seater electric car powered only by the sun, a team of students plan to circumnavigate the world. These German students designed the SolarWorld Gran Turismo (SolarWorld GT) and competed in the 2011 World Solar Challenge in Australia, which kicked off their round-the-world tour. After they crossed the finish line in Darwin, Australia, they decided to keep going and motored on to Sydney and then to New Zealand.

With a lift from DHL, the SolarWorld GT was transported across the more

Ford is making it easier for a lot of its drivers to keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.

The auto manufacturer announced yesterday that it will make its industry-leading Sync voice-activation system standard on all trim levels of the 2013 Ford Fusion sedan and and Flex crossover. Sync is Ford's hands-free system for making calls or accessing the audio system. When used with Sync Services, which is free for the first three years and $60 per year thereafter, drivers can use voice commands to get turn-by-turn directions or listen to news headlines, sports more

If you could save over $1,300 on your annual car insurance by letting your provider track your driving, would you?

That's the question U.K. drivers are mulling this morning, as the country's Automobile Association (AA) is set to launch a new insurance policy that would place a "black box" into a car, allowing the organization to make sure its insured drivers are behaving on the road.

According to the BBC, which first reported on the move, the technology will monitor speed, braking severity, and the roads drivers are on. The information collected from the black box more

LOS ANGELES--The highlight of the Model X introduction, Tesla's SUV, was not the electric power train, but what the company calls the falcon-wing doors.

The manufacturer being Tesla, it was a given that the Model X would be an electrically driven vehicle. So during a preview for a small group of journalists at Tesla's design center in Los Angeles, Tesla CEO Elon Musk focused on the innovative side doors.

These doors lift up from the sides, then hinge in the middle before gaining their full height. Unlike gull-wing doors, Tesla's doors can open in much narrower spaces. Musk said they give the Model X the largest door openings of any passenger car. Impressively, he was able to stand in the car, his head underneath the open door, without crouching.more

The Elantra Touring version of Hyundai's previous-generation compact was (and remains) one of our favorite small, cheap wagons.

So, we're not surprised to see a five-door variant of the current-generation Hyundai Elantra debut at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. What you may not have seen coming was the coupe version of Hyundai's fluidically sculptured sedan but that, too, was unwrapped at the show.

The Elantra Coupe doesn't differ dramatically from the Elantra Sedan we tested last year. In fact, about the only measurable differences are the removal of a pair of doors and the addition of more

Honda's first all-electric vehicle is hitting the streets a little early.

The Honda Fit EV debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2011, and it's expected to be available for lease this summer. However, Honda announced that Google and Stanford University got a special early delivery of the tiny EV this week.

What kind of car would you design if you didn't have to pay attention to cost, practicality, or even the laws of physics?

To visualize the potential of futuristic technologies, Portuguese industrial designer Tiago Miguel Inacio penned a halo vehicle for the 22nd century--the Mithos Electromagnetic Vehicle concept.

Inspired by Tim Burton's Batmobile, the Mithos is equipped with a 1.5 megawatt electric motor that gives the vehicle a zero to 60 mph acceleration of 2.1 seconds. It can reach its top speed of 250 mph in 12 seconds.

The body is coated in crash resistant body more

Get in the groove and let the good times roll. T3 Motion will launch its latest electric standup vehicle at the Big Boys Toys 2012 show this week at Atlantis the Palm in Dubai.

T3 Motion's popular electric law-enforcement patrol vehicle has about 3,000 T3 Series units in more than 30 countries around the world.

The latest version offers an easy-to-use, quick-response vehicle that helps urban cops catch the bad guys.

"We have made great headway with law enforcement in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and the Middle East, opening the door for a successful launch into the more

Most remote control cars come with dual stick controllers, but Hot Wheels opens up many more driving options with its iPhone controller app.

Although a little clunky to set up, Hot Wheel's iNitro Speeders gives the option of using an iPhone to control its little remote control cars. The iPhone app includes the standard dual stick controller, but also lets you drive the car with the iPhone's accelerometer, choose a predefined driving pattern, or draw your own pattern.