Schumacher Xi14 140 Watts Vehicle Power Converter - Black on 2040-parts.com

BMW: Carbon fiber goes high volume in 2013

BMW AG plans to begin high-volume production of carbon fiber parts in two years, making it a strong contender to be the first automaker to move beyond limited-edition use of the exotic material. But Daimler AG, which has taken steps aimed at making carbon fiber parts in 2012, is among the automakers racing toward the same goal. In 2013, BMW will start building the i3 electric car, a vehicle that features a passenger cell--the protective shell around the passenger compartment that ensures the integrity of the vehicle in a crash--made of plastic reinforced with carbon fiber.

Jag designers light up London’s Clerkenwell Design Week

Clerkenwell Design Week might not mean much to car designers more used to motor shows like Tokyo or Geneva. But the five-year-old event is fast becoming a fixture in the broader design calendar, and has been sponsored by Jaguar for the past four years for good reason. In simple terms, Jaguar wants to be seen (and respected) beyond the automotive realm: "We want to connect with other designers and have our designers learn from designers in other fields," advanced design director Julian Thomson told Car Design News.

£2m McLaren P1 GTR for Pebble Beach

McLaren McLaren will show its new P1 GTR – pictured here for the first time in an official teaser shot above – at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance car show next month. The P1 GTR will feature a number of circuit-biased modifications – including a 1,000hp engine – and will cost £1.98 million. McLaren P1 GTR: track-focused modifications The GTR is based on McLaren’s P1 hybrid hypercar, itself designed not to be the fastest, but the most focused, involving and advanced driver’s car there is.