Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Amped Up! GM to hire 1,000 engineers and researchers for electric cars

General Motors will hire 1,000 engineers and researchers in Michigan for research and development of electric vehicles, CEO Dan Akerson said on Tuesday morning in Detroit. The new hires will work on batteries, electric motors and power-control technology. Akerson made the announcement at the factory that builds the 2011 Chevrolet Volt.

This could be your first autonomous vehicle

While Google's autonomous fleet of robot cars prowls Silicon Valley and gets all the press, the first, or one of the first, truly autonomous vehicles you may ride in could be something like this: The humble, people-moving Navia. Developed by a French company called Induct, the Navia is ringed with laser beams (not frickin' laser beams. Ed.) that help it navigate through city streets or college campuses without the aid of a track in the ground, a rail or even GPS (GPS is not accurate enough, Induct says).

CAR tech: why Porsche needs hybrids

At the launch of the 997-generation 911 Turbo in 2006, Porsche faced a daunting future. Anti-car chatter from EU legislators proposed banning anything that produced more than 241g/km of CO2 and exceeded 101mph. ‘We’ll have to close if the European Commission decides that every carmaker must reach [these targets],’ a Porsche exec told CAR.