1964 - 63 Dodge Dart - Brake & Clutch Assembly on 2040-parts.com

Driving age to be raised to 18?

A government-commissioned report has recommended probationary driving licences are in future issued from the age of 18, not 17 – and that learner drivers would be required to invest big in getting a licence. The new proposals would still see provisional driving licences issues from 17, allowing learners to get out on the road under supervision. However, learners would have to undertake a 12-month ‘learner stage’, in which they’d have to cover a minimum of 100 hours’ supervised driving.

SAE approves new fast-charging standard for EVs, plug-ins

SAE International said it has approved a new technical standard that will dramatically reduce charging times for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles. The global engineering group said the new charging standard, developed with the cooperation of more than 190 automakers, utilities and equipment builders, will allow charging times to be reduced from as long as eight hours to as short as 20 minutes. Automakers want DC direct charging to take less than 10 minutes, or roughly the time it takes to fill a tank with gasoline.The goal is to accommodate currents as high as 500 volts distributed from public charging stations.

New Mercedes-Benz S-class spotted in SoCal

The new Mercedes-Benz S-class must be hustling toward the developmental-cycle finish line, because it's been spotted en masse in places such as Toronto (where it must be undergoing cold-weather testing) and Irvine, Calif. (where it must be gauging the interest of Benz-crazy vox populi). Because as devoid as it is of bodywork-breaking pillboxes, camera-obfuscating swirl paint, and surly engineers, the fact that it's seen here in little more than some sticky paper and a pair of cheap sunglasses on the driver means that the elder statesman of the automotive world is readying its next debut.