Vintage Auto Light Bulbs, Tung-sol on 2040-parts.com

General Motors to keep green car technology in house

For the first time in its 100-year history, General Motors plans to design, develop and manufacture electric motors for its growing array of gasoline-electric hybrids and electric vehicles. The electric motors used in GM's current lineup of hybrids are made to GM specifications by outside vendors. GM wants to bring the design and manufacturing in-house to save money and to apply its own technology to boost performance, lower weight and reduce power consumption, said Larry Nitz, GM's chief hybrid powertrain engineer.

Audi RS6 Avant ‘Plus’ planned with 600bhp

Audi are planning a ‘Plus’ model of the new RS6 Avant which will come with around 600bhp and be a full production model. Just as they have with the launch of the TT RS Plus, Audi are planning to give the new RS6 Avant even more power than it already enjoys in an RS6 Avant Plus model, and it won’t be a limited edition model but a full production option. Talking to Car Magazine, Stephan Reil, Audi Quattri Division boss, said that Audi were planning a range of RS Plus models which could get not just a performance boost but less weight too.

Tomorrow's world: lightweight carbon composites

Once all the dust settles on The Great Battery Farce (the idea that the world's ills will be taken care of by sticking a battery in everything that moves and charging it up) we may eventually face up to the fact that the best way to move something around more economically, is to move less of it. That means making things lighter, a lot lighter. Car makers are working on it and manufacturers like Audi and Jaguar have already become masters in bringing aluminium to the mass production.