09-12 Chevy Traverse Power Heated (power Folding) W/ Mem W/ Sig Mirror Left on 2040-parts.com

Feds researching fire risks from EV batteries, regulator says

Federal safety regulators have begun an $8.75 million study of whether lithium ion batteries in electric vehicles pose a potential fire hazard, officials said Thursday. Kevin Vincent, chief counsel of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said researchers are looking at whether the high-voltage batteries can cause fires when they are being charged and when the vehicles are in an accident.

Concept Car of the Week: Nissan NX-21 (1983)

In the early 1980s, with the new millennium still seemingly an age away, Nissan Design America was tasked with imagining the family car of the future, while giving potential buyers a preview of the forthcoming N13 NX and EXA models. The resulting concept would be shown at the Tokyo motor show in 1983. Given confidence by the increasing success and expanding global presence of Japanese cars, including the previous generation N12 NX, Nissan's designers, led by Tom Semple, decided that the NX-21 (for 21st century) was the answer.

World premier for the Fiat Trepiuno concept at the Geneva Motor Show

Fiat has announced that its "move into the past for a fresh look to the future" is to be seen at the Geneva Show, where it shall unveil the Trepiuno. The name is very unusual (and one can't help wondering how they will spell and pronounce it outside the borders of Italy), but the car concept is not. The new small car is actually intended to be a modern remake of the Fiat 500 (not Cinquecento) success.