Tesla asks NHTSA to investigate fires

In response to concerns following a recent accident which appeared to result from road debris damaging the underside of a battery compartment of a Tesla Model S, causing a fire in the engine compartment, the company has announced that it has requested that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conduct a full investigation into the fire incidents. In a blog post, Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote the following about the investigation: "While we think it is highly unlikely, if something is discovered that would result in a material improvement in occupant fire safety, we will immediately apply that change to new cars and offer it as a free retrofit to all existing cars. Given that the incidence of fires in the Model S is far lower than combustion cars and that there have been no resulting injuries, this did not at first seem like a good use of NHTSA's time compared to the hundreds of gasoline fire deaths per year that warrant their attention." Tesla has also released a software update to the cars which will maintain their standard ride height at highway speeds, preventing the air suspension from lowering the car an extra inch at highway speeds for greater aerodynamic efficiency.

Peugeot SXC concept car (2011) first official pictures

Peugeot will show this SXC crossover concept at next week’s 2011 Shanghai auto show. It’s a large hybrid 4x4 designed in Peugeot’s Chinese styling studio and shows a few pointers for how a future crossover could look. We’ll take that to mean the next 4007 then.

Audi SQ5 (2012) first official pictures

The first of Audi's sporty production SUVs has arrived, in the shape of the 309bhp diesel-powered SQ5. It's the first S-badged Audi to feature an oil-burner plumbed in behind its prodigious front grille, though Audi is confident it's still every bit as worthy of the badge as its petrol-sipping brethren. What are the figures on the new Audi SQ5?