1997 Nissan Altima Factory Brochure-altima Gxe-gle-se on 2040-parts.com

Battery breakthrough set to accelerate electric-car development

A team of scientists working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are claiming a significant breakthrough in recharging times for lithium-ion batteries. According to findings published in the scientific journal Nature, MIT researchers Byoungwoo Kang and Gerbrand Ceder have unlocked the potential of lithium-ion batteries by patenting a unique process which is claimed to allow a typical laptop power pack to be fully recharged in less than a minute--an improvement in recharging performance of roughly 90 percent over existing lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries generate electric current via the flow of lithium ions across an electrolyte, from an electrode to a cathode.

Leno invites Ricardo HyBoost Ford Focus to the garage

Jay Leno invited Tom Apostolos to the garage this week. He’s the president of Ricardo Americas, a tech company partially responsible for the hybrid powerplant on the McLaren P1. Leno and Apostolos talk about hybrids, and how you have to drive them tens of years and hundreds of thousands of miles to get any added value out of them.

Ford Racing offers B-Spec kit for the Fiesta

While a B-Spec Ford Fiesta might seem like unsalted mashed potatoes compared with Ken Block's Hybrid-Function Hoon Vehicle variant, the basic car is plenty of fun when equipped with a manual transmission and shod with some good summer rubber. As such, Ford Racing is offering a kit to convert a showroom-fresh Fiesta hatch into an affordable racer eligible for SCCA, Grand-Am and World Challenge B-spec competition. The main mod involved is a coil-over suspension kit.