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Can there be any doubt but that automobiles are becoming more self-aware with each new generation? Audi’s newly developed traffic-light recognition system could save fuel as well as the annoyance that comes from being stuck behind oblivious drivers who don’t notice when lights switch color, by allowing you to anticipate changing signals. The system works by reading the automated signals from a city’s central traffic computer, reports auto news Web site MotorAuthority, and transmitting that information to the driver through the car’s driver information display. At a red light, the system can count down the time remaining until a change…

Hyundai’s investment in fuel-cell technology will shine in small numbers later this year when a lease option is introduced on a fuel cell-powered Tucson. In the meantime, and no doubt to pump up the volume on fuel cells, it recently unveiled the fuel-cell-powered Intrado concept at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland. It sports Hyundai’s second-gen fuel-cell system, which the company says is smaller and lighter than current systems. Carbon fiber and lightweight steel comprise the body and much about the vehicle was inspired by aviation, including its name, which refers to an area under an aircraft’s wings where the…

In the days before diesel electric engines, steam trains carried tenders behind them filled with wood or coal to extend their range. Now the idea has reached electric cars. The EP Tender is essentially a gasoline engine inside a small trailer that can provide extra electricity for electric cars on long journeys. Its inventor, Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Segard, coupled the EP Tender with a Renault Zoe, a pure electric that has become a popular EV in Europe. The idea isn’t entirely new since cars such as the Chevrolet Volt carry a range-extending gasoline generation. The notion of being able to add…

I get the call that he’s going to be way late.

World record holder Garry Sowerby is all about beating the clock, but today he’s an hour behind to drop off the test car. And here’s why.

By TOM JENSEN www.wheelbasemedia.com With the 50th anniversary celebration of the Mustang happening in April, Ford Motor Co. decided to prime the pump for the big event one weekend before with a massive presence at the 12th annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Palm Beach, Fla. The assault was multi-faceted: Ford brought in some of its brass for the event, including Vice President, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service, John Felice (Ford’s top domestic marketing executive) and Steve Ling, Ford car marketing manager who is one of the key architects of the launch of the 2015 Mustang. Naturally, Ford had one…

It’s not hard to figure which market Volvo has in mind for its S60L Petrol Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PPHEV) – which it says it will produce – and it isn’t North America. The concept is based on the S60L long-wheelbase model offered exclusively in China. With a full battery charge and a mix of electric-only driving, the S60L PPHEV could return fuel economy in excess of 100 mpg. Volvo expects to launch the car in China in early 2015. Auto news Web site www.MotorAuthority.com says while the long-wheelbase S60 hybrid almost certainly will not be sold here, North Americans…

A hungry hole beneath the National Corvette Museum swallows eight prized cars. The upside? It could have been much worse. By TOM JENSEN www.wheelbasemedia.com For most of the last two years, almost all the news about Corvettes has seemed to be so very positive: a successful 60th anniversary celebration, the launch of the new and fabulous 2014 Corvette Stingray, world-record multi-million dollar sales of a couple of 1967 Corvettes and most recently, the introduction of the jaw-dropping, ultra-high-performance 2015 Z06 Corvette. But now, this. A sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky., has swallowed eight rare and…

By TOM JENSEN www.wheelbasemedia.com Intentionally or otherwise, Cadillac has created a small firestorm of controversy with its new top model: the ELR. And that may not be a bad thing. The quick explanation of the ELR is that it’s a sensationally styled and extremely luxurious two-door coupe with the plug-in hybrid powertrain of a Chevrolet Volt. And it costs more than $80,000. Which is perhaps the reason Cadillac created the commercial known as “Poolside,” featuring actor Neal McDonough as an uber successful – and annoyingly self-satisfied – yuppie who extols the virtues of hard work and success, culminating with him…

By MALCOLM GUNN A recent magazine article written by Rob Sass, a vice president with collector-car insurance company Hagerty, warns of a steadily declining interest in the hobby as a whole. Sass points out that the core baby-boomer demographic – the one that has fueled the demand for post-World War II vehicles from 1946 to the mid-1980s – are losing interest due to their advancing years and/or shifting priorities. The man from Hagerty claims that auction prices for many of these coveted classics have already peaked and might actually be starting to decline. The problem is obvious. Lovers/owners of old…

One of the wildest cars to showcase at the recent Geneva Motor Show was the Nanoflowcell Quant e-Sportlimousine, a research prototype that’s powered by salt water, more or less. Its power – all 912 horses-worth – comes from a “flow” battery that uses ionic charge-carrying salt water as its storage medium. Its Nanoflowcell power storage system is a “very specific formulation” of flow battery that boasts a claimed five to six times the storage capacity of lithium-ion batteries. The Quant design uses supercapacitors for their ability to release energy quickly, feeding power to four electric motors, one at each wheel.…