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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.

2014 Porsche Cayman gets a performance-testing iPhone app

To promote the new 2014 Cayman, Porsche has cooked up an iPhone app called “Cayman Code of the Curve.” You're probably already rolling your eyes at the prospect of another automaker app that is little more than a downloadable advertisement, but this seems to be something different -- the app is designed to record your driving performance in real-time and then share results with friends. Porsche enthusiast site flatsixes.com has an exclusive first look at the app, which is still in development but is reported to be coming “soon.” Based on preliminary screenshots provided by Porsche, the app instructs users to set up a variety of courses -- cone slalom, autocross and reaction-time challenge courses are shown -- then uses the iPhone's internal accelerometer and GPS receiver to track and record your performance. You'll also be able to use the app's “record your curve” function to share favorite drives with friends on Facebook.

2010 Kia Forte: More goodies for a lower price

The new Forte replaces the Kia Spectra compact sedan for 2010. Kia's biggest seller gets new skin and a wider, longer version of the Hyundai Elantra platform for the 2010 model year but falls short in simple things such as the workings of shifters and clutches. Still, it's only $14,390 to start, and that includes Bluetooth, an iPod jack and three months of Sirius satellite radio.