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

Electric cars can become electricity banks

Ever try to store electricity? It won't stay in a bottle, and you can't keep it in your sock drawer. So when you have a lot of it--say, when it's windy and your wind turbines are really spinning, or when it's sunny and your gallium arsenide photovoltaics are lighting up, or at night when the utility's generators can run unhindered--you have to store it somewhere.

Lotus Exige S (2011) at Frankfurt motor show

This is the new Lotus Exige S, just unveiled by CEO Dany Bahar at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show. And it might not be the sort of Lotus Exige you were expecting: this new S model now runs the supercharged 3.5-litre V6 from the Evora S, meaning it not only boasts 35% more power than before, but it is also 191kg heavier. Lotus Exige S: the spec Lotus’s long-held mantra has been ‘add lightness’, but Bahar’s future plans call for models to rival the 458, the California and the Rapide, essentially bigger cars with bigger engines.

Fisker, Energy Department face tough Congressional hearing on federal loans

Struggling Fisker Automotive took a bludgeoning Wednesday on Capitol Hill from top congressional Republicans who compared Fisker to failed automotive startups of the past and lambasted the Department of Energy for allowing the electric-car producer to draw down nearly $200 million in taxpayer-funded loans. House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told Fisker founder Henrik Fisker that he will be remembered fondly for his design work for BMW and Aston Martin. But he compared Fisker to Malcolm Bricklin, John DeLorean and Preston Tucker -- three entrepreneurs known for their failed startup car companies.