Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now

From Jaguar, A 495-Horsepower Monster

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:30:00 GMT

Can the long-awaited E-Type successor live up to its lineage?

In 1961, Jaguar debuted the E-Type, a road-ready two-seat version of the company’s champion racecars. It quickly became legend, praised by Enzo Ferrari as “the most beautiful car ever made.” But in 1974, Jaguar discontinued the E-Type and shifted its focus to genteel luxury coupes and sedans. This summer, the company will resurrect the two-seater in the F-Type, which features a 495-horsepower engine, adaptive controls, and, of course, a look reminiscent of its beloved predecessor. Even against Porsche and Corvette, which have been consistently updating their sports cars in the interim, the F-Type does plenty to make up for the 40-year hiatus.

Optimized Airflow
The 564-pound aluminum chassis is Jaguar’s lightest to date. An active rear spoiler deploys at speeds above 60 mph and generates 264 pounds of downforce to keep the comparatively light F-type close to the road even at the highest speeds. Designers looked to reduce drag everywhere they could; for example, the door handles retract when they’re not needed, smoothing airflow.

Supercharged Cylinders
Jaguar will release three F-Type variants, the most powerful of which squeezes 495 horsepower out of a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 engine. Dubbed the F-Type V8 S, the car goes from zero to 60 in just 4.2 seconds and has a top speed of 186 mph. (The base V6 model tops out at 161.)

Intelligent Eight-Speed
Designers gave the F-Type an intelligent eight-speed automatic transmission. The system tracks conditions and driving style—how a driver accelerates, brakes, and takes turns—and selects one of 25 preprogrammed shifting models. By monitoring G-forces, for instance, the transmission knows that it should hold off on an upshift until the car exits a turn.

Adaptive Suspension
A double-wishbone suspension logs chassis motions 100 times per second and steering inputs 500 times per second, so it can adjust individual shocks to keep the car level and the ride smooth. The system knows, for example, that much of the car’s weight will wind up on the front-right tire during a left turn and stiffens the shocks accordingly.

Custom Performance Controls
Owners can create custom settings in the F-Type to match their driving habits. Using a touchscreen on the dash, they can save presets that soften or stiffen the steering and suspension, adjust the shifting sensitivity, and modify engine responsiveness. The F-type’s “dynamic launch control” also times the throttle to create drag-strip starts with a single button push.

Jaguar F-Type V8 S

0–60: 4.2 seconds
Top speed: 186 mph
Price: From $92,000

8 Things You Should Know About Electric Cars

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:00:00 GMT

Sometime in the next few weeks, the 100,000th plug-in electric car will be sold in the U.S. But they're still mostly a mystery to the average new-car buyer, and there are a few key principles that get shared over and over again. Here they are, boiled down for easy consumption: eight things you need to know about electric cars. 1. Electric cars cost more to buy than gasoline cars of the same size. The least expensive plug-in electric car on the market, the 2013 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive, costs twice as much as the entry-level gasoline ForTwo. A 2013 Nissan Leaf electric car starts at $28,800 (before incentives), while a similarly-sized Sentra starts at $15,990. 2. Electric cars cost a lot less per mile to operate. If you pay $4 a gallon for gasoline, a 25-mpg gas car needs $16 in fuel every 100 miles. An electric car uses 75 cents to $6.50 in electricity to cover that same 100 miles, depending on your local rate per kilowatt-hour 3. Some plug-in cars have engines as well; some don't. When people say "electric car," they often think of pure battery-electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf or Tesla Model S. But there's another category of cars that have both a plug to recharge a battery pack from the wall and an engine as well. Sometimes they're adapted from hybrids--that's the path taken by Ford, Honda, and Toyota—and other times they are dedicated vehicles, like the Chevrolet Volt. Most owners of those cars make every effort to drive as many miles as possible on electric power alone—but they have the security of knowing their car won't be immobile at the side of the road—unless they both deplete the battery and run out of gas. 4. Electric cars are much nicer to drive than you think. We're pretty much past the, "Oh, they're all golf carts" stage. But a lot of drivers don't (yet) know that electric cars are very quiet (no engine or transmission noises when running on battery power), as well as surprisingly torquey. Their motors produce maximum output from 0 rpm, so acceleration away from a stop is strong and smooth. Drivers like that. And the fact that electric cars are a nicer driving experience may be their secret weapon once they arrive in volume. 5. Range anxiety abates. It's entirely normal for drivers to worry as they see the number of available miles on a battery electric car ticking down toward zero. But as experienced electric-car owners will tell you, in general you drive fewer miles each day than you think—and over time, you get comfortable that a fully charged electric car really can deliver that number of miles, reliably, over and over and over. 6. Temperature matters. Electric-car batteries, like people, are happiest at temperatures of around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Extreme heat—as in Phoenix, Arizona, where summer road surfaces can reach 150 degrees—and extreme cold (as in the northern third of the U.S. and most of Canada) can reduce range. Add to that energy-sucking heaters (or, to a lesser extent, air conditioning) and you can reduce your range by a third in very cold weather. Luckily, California is expected to buy more plug-in electric cars than the next five states combined—and that state has weather that's pretty close to perfect for electric cars much of the year. More From Green Car Reports: Is Tesla About To Offer Battery-Pack Swapping For Model S? Why Electric-Car Owners Should Be Happy For New Colorado Tax What Now For Fisker Karma Owners: Are V-8s Their Likely Future? 7. Yes, there is a long tailpipe--but electric cars emit less. This isn't the place to go through the math, but two separate studies have shown that driving a mile on grid power emits less carbon dioxide than a mile in a 25-mpg car. And in many states, it's even better than a mile in a 50-mpg Toyota Prius hybrid--the most fuel-efficient car sold today. 8. Yes, you can take them through car washes just fine; deep puddles, too. Chevrolet even produced a video showing the water trough test it performs on the Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car to ensure its electric systems stay neatly sealed against any water incursion. This article, written by John Voelcker, was originally published on Green Car Reports, a publishing partner of Popular Science. Follow GreenCarReports on Facebook and Twitter.

This Sound Camera Could Help You Fix Your Car

Colin Lecher — Thu, 09 May 2013 19:30:00 GMT

Meaning it can see where exactly where that weird noise in your car engine is coming from.

You're driving around, when you hear a weird rattling noise coming out of your car. Even if you know your way around an engine, you don't know exactly where the problem is coming from, which makes it tough to fix. So, quick: curl into the fetal position and begin taking public transportation for the rest of your days. Or try out this sound camera, which can map exactly where the problem is.

Developed by researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, the camera creates a heatmap-like view of machinery (or anything else): 30 digital microphones and a high-res camera pick up on what's making noise, and an image shows the different levels of noise, organized by a color gradient. Blue means a little noise, while red is the most extreme level.

It's not the first sound camera, but at about 4 pounds, it's one of the most portable, the inventors say--just grab onto the handles and point it at the thing you want to hear.

Since the camera still requires you to fix the broken machine after you diagnose it, the device is probably going to be used more by professionals than amateurs. Although it would be nice to hunt down the person chatting in a move theater.

Happy 50th Birthday, Lamborghini!

Rose Pastore — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:00:00 GMT

Our favorite Lambos through the decades, from the Popular Science archive.

Fifty years ago this week, Italian mechanic and tractor maker Ferruccio Lamborghini founded a car company in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy. In the decades since, Lamborghinis have appeared often in the pages of Popular Science—we've geeked out over their innovative designs, eye-watering speeds, and safety innovations.

Above is the Lamborghini LP 500, from the June 1971 issue of Popular Science. We called the prototype "backward" because the engine was mounted ahead of the rear axle, facing back: "The design eats up a lot of space, but puts 53 percent of the weight on the rear wheels for exceptional balance and handling." The tilt-up doors were the finishing touch on what was, at the time, the ultimate car of the future.

"If it's super speed you want, go to Italy," said Popular Science car editor Jan P. Norbye in May 1971. The Lamborghini Miura above had a top speed of 180 mph and was then the fastest road car available in the world. The secret to its speed? "Maximum rigidity and minimum weight in bodies and frames," Norbye wrote. The Miura's engine, clutch, and transaxle together weighed only 700 pounds.

From 1968, this two-door, 325-horsepower Lamborghini Espada had a nearly flat roof that blended into a horizontal rear "window." So the driver could actually see out the back of the car, Lamborghini added a strip of glass protected by a grille in the squared-off tail. With a top speed of 165 mph, this four-seater car had "plenty of zip," we wrote in December 1968.

Lamborghini's 200-mph, 485-horsepower Diablo was "a beast," wrote Popular Science editor Dan McCosh in May 1990. The two-seater car had a 0 to 60 acceleration time of 4 seconds and weighed 3,640 pounds.

To celebrate its golden anniversary this week, Lamborghini is sending hundreds of its cars (including its very first model, the 1963 350 GT) on a 750 tour from Milan to Sant'Agata. Let us know if you need drivers!

Could We Be Driving/Piloting This Flying Car In A Few Years?

Dan Nosowitz — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:30:00 GMT

Vertical takeoff. Hybrid power. Automatic landing. See it in action as it flies and drives.

We've been following the progress of Terrafugia, the Massachusetts-based creator of several (prototype) flying cars, for a while, despite the company never having actually released one. But that hasn't stopped the company from "announcing its vision for the future of personal transportation": a plug-in flying car.

Terrafugia's Transition is the company's most famous creation. It's more of a drivable plane than a flying car, really, but it's gotten FAA certification and is just about the closest we've gotten to a flying car so far. The Transition hasn't gotten past the prototype stage, but Terrafugia has chosen to steamroll past that and show off what they think will be coming a generation or two from now: the TF-X.

The TF-X would be a hybrid plug-in electric vehicle, capable of vertical takeoffs like a helicopter, but able to adjust its propellers from an upright position to a horizontal position so it can fly like a plane. The video is oddly specific about specs, considering this thing is completely conceptual, but it claims the vehicle will have automatic takeoffs and landings, and reach speeds of 200mph with a range of 500 miles.

Intelligent Headlights Make Raindrops Disappear

Colin Lecher — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:39:46 GMT

A camera finds individual drops, then a projector blacks them out of the driver's view.

Anyone who's ever driven through a heavy rain has hoped for something like this: a system that can make rain drops vanish--or at least look like they do.

Intel and Carnegie Mellon University have developed technology that makes it happen, CNET reports. Each headlight projects not just a single beam, but a grid of several tiny beams (that's how the different-colored pixels are projected on the screen when there's actually an image being shown).

A camera behind the projector watches for raindrops, and a processor predicts their paths. Then the projector blocks out just the part of the grid where the rain is falling, darkening just the pixels in its way. Presto: a rainless view.

Intel says it'll be available in a decade, and even though it's not quite perfect--some drops still look like they sneak through, at least at the top of the driver's range of vision--it seems like a major safety improvement from windshield wipers and a prayer.

[CNET]

New Twizy Electric Car Is Part Formula 1, Part Mario Kart

Rose Pastore — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:00:00 GMT

From Renault, a sporty, single-seater concept road car

Click here to enter the gallery

Renault's latest concept car is the electric Twizy Renault Sport F1, a road car with a top speed of 68 mph. According to Renault, "its unique proportions give it the appearance of a beast that is about to pounce yet which is still fun to drive." The car's proportions also give it the appearance of a vehicle Wario might drive in the next Mario Kart. (That said, this car is way less weird-looking than Renault's previous concept, which looked like a firefly on acid.)

The single-seater Twizy Sport drives on the same tires as Renault's Formula 2.0 race car and features LED headlights and two electric motors. On the Formula One-styled steering wheel, there's a screen that displays real-time vehicle data, such as the battery's level of charge and the oil pressure.

The concept car also features a regenerative braking mechanism called the Kinetic Energy Recovery System, in which the energy from braking, rather than being lost as heat, is used to momentarily boost power output.

See the gallery for more views of this oddball car.

New Twizy Electric Car Is Part Formula 1, Part Mario Kart

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:00:00 GMT

From Renault, a sporty, single-seater concept road car

Are Electric Vehicles Really Zero-Emission?

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:00:00 GMT

As the owner of the first Nissan Leaf electric car sold in Maine, it is my pleasure to give slide presentations to various groups about the history, benefits, and personal experiences of driving an electric vehicle. After a showing of the movie Revenge of the Electric Car, I was participating in a question and answer session when someone in the audience shouted, "Your car is not zero-emission!" Although the Leaf has no tailpipe and causes no local emissions, I had to acknowledge that my car's use of electricity indirectly contributes to smokestack emissions from power plants that burn fossil fuels. In other words, it's a transfer of pollution to a different point in the 'carbon cycle'. This of course begs the question: What's the point of driving an electric car from an environmental perspective if this is happening, the other benefits notwithstanding? Chin up, my friends: All is not lost. At this point, I'll direct you to a U.S. Department of Energy link that lets you determine your plug-in electric car's CO2 footprint. As you know, power companies across the country produce electricity both by burning hydrocarbons and from renewable sources that vary from region to region--making electric vehicles 'greener' in certain areas of the country than in others. Keep in mind an electric car gets cleaner as the sustainability movement grinds its way forward and individual power grids gain a higher percentage of renewables. Not having the patience to wait for that to happen, I chose a different path: solar power. During the past year, my Leaf used roughly 1800 kilowatt-hours of electricity, so I had a photovoltaic system installed that will offset the power required to fuel my car. Since the utility rate where I live is $0.14/kWh, slightly above the national average, that works out to be $252 a year if I were to buy that amount of power. More From Green Car Reports: Chrysler CEO: Going Green Is Good, But Natural Gas Better Than Electric Gas-Mileage Rules To Add $3,000 Or More To Car Prices By 2025? Will Future Tesla Electric Cars Use Metal-Air Batteries? So what's the payback, you're thinking? For me, it's a combination of not buying gasoline--the savings of which will pay for the solar panels over a period of several years--along with the comfort of knowing my ride is truly zero-emission. So, the question remains: Will your next vehicle be zero-emission …Yes or No? This article, written by Marc Lausier, was originally published on Green Car Reports, a publishing partner of Popular Science. Follow GreenCarReports on Facebook and Twitter.

Hyundai Made A Flying Car (Sorta)

Colin Lecher — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:00:00 GMT

It is impractical! And cool! And we would like to fly it.

For Hyundai's annual Idea Festival--a Wacky Races-style competition where engineers show off the most bonkers ideas they can dream up--a team unveiled this crazy flying car. Basically, it's a multirotor drone, except with a driver's seat and 16 rotors instead of the more conventional four.

So "car" is kind of a loose term here: it's not even being piloted by the person in the cockpit; someone with a remote control is standing by. (Hopefully someone the guy in the cockpit trusts.)

Yes, cool, but just remember this is part of a swarm of inventions from Hyundai's futuristic Idea Festival. Meaning you're not going to be signing up for a flying car soon.

Darn. So close. Until it's the future, see the car in action below (it comes in at about 53 seconds in).

[SUAS News]

Audi Wants Its Cars To Predict Where Traffic Will Be

Colin Lecher — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:30:37 GMT

Side-stepping traffic by mining data

At the GPU Technology Conference 2013 show in San Jose, Audi announced some of its plans for its Cars of the Future, The Register reports. One of the coolest ideas: cars that can predict where traffic will be, so drivers can avoid it.

The amply named Predictive Traffic function would mine traffic records and current reports, including social media, as well as scheduled events like sports games that could bring cars to a standstill. The system, under Audi's plan, could also predict a driver's most likely destination based on their traffic history.

Pretty neat! Along with that, Audi announced a concept for a reworked directions system that would operate in a "human-like" way, giving directions based on landmarks instead of streets. A Smart Parking feature would work similarly to the traffic-predicting system, but do it for parking spots: mapping out available spots and prices for those spots, rather than making you drive around in circles hunting one down.

We don't have too many details yet on exactly how these systems would work, but since Audi did make a self-driving car, hopefully we'll see these projects come to life soon, too.

[The Register]

Renault's New Electric Concept Car Looks Like A Firefly On Acid

Rose Pastore — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:00:00 GMT

Welsh design star Ross Lovegrove helped create the nature-inspired Twin'Z city car.

Click here to enter the gallery

French carmaker Renault and Welsh industrial designer Ross Lovegrove teamed up to create this LED-covered, lightning-bug-looking electric city car, called the Twin'Z. They unveiled the concept this week in Milan.

Lovegrove envisions the Twin'Z as an "endearing, almost living object," and, indeed, the car has a sort of organic, squishy look to it. The neon green wheels (see close-up image in the gallery) resemble growing tree branches. Renault says it used 3-D printing to create the design.

Inside the car, animated light patterns are supposed to "expand the occupant's experience"--uh, lay off the hallucinogens, Renault--but seem like they would be hypnotically distracting. There's no dashboard, just a tentacle-like steering column and a single touchscreen display mounted on a post to the right of the driver's seat.

The all-electric Twin'Z has a range of 100 miles and top speed of just over 80 mph.

See the gallery for a closer look at this trippy car.

Renault's Trippy New Electric Concept Car Looks Like A Firefly

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:00:00 GMT

Welsh designer Ross Lovegrove helped create the nature-inspired Twin'Z city car.

The Dubai Police Are Getting A Lamborghini

Colin Lecher — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:30:00 GMT

And we are understandably jealous

Are the Dubai police looking for additions to their squad? Because we could use an excuse to drive this Lamborghini Aventador, which the city of Dubai has given to its force.

The 217 mph machine costs about $400,000, making it, uh, high-end, to say the least. The oil-rich Dubai (with its awesome buildings) can probably afford it, and that oil might also help offset the car's fuel costs: as Yahoo! Autos points out, police cars spend most of their time idling, waiting for a crime, which makes this behemoth a gas-guzzler most other countries wouldn't have much reason to invest in.

So the question now is: Will this turbo-charged vehicle strike fear into the hearts of would-be criminals, or will they commit a crime just for a ride in the backseat?

[Yahoo! Autos]

See The First Images Of BMW's Sleek New Concept X4

Rose Pastore — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 20:30:00 GMT

Part SUV, part coupe

Click here to enter the gallery

BMW has just released images of its new Concept X4, the carmaker's second so-called Sports Activity Coupe. The five-door Concept X4 (which isn't exactly a concept—production is scheduled for 2014) is basically a luxury SUV combined with a coupe. The car will debut later this month at the big Shanghai auto show, but you can get a first look and some early details here. Check out the gallery!

See The First Images Of BMW's Sleek New Concept X4

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 20:30:00 GMT

Part SUV, part coupe

The Smart Highway

Susannah F. Locke — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 22:18:26 GMT

The “Smart Highway” project (a collaboration between Studio Roosegaarde, a design lab based in the Netherlands, and engineers from Heijmans Infrastructure) is one of several recent efforts to make roads smarter, safer, and more energy efficient. This year, the group is preparing to make a 300-meter test road with glowing lane markers and weather-warning paint. Check out the gallery on the “Smart Highway” and/or read about more intelligent road projects here.

Click here to enter the gallery.

The Smart Highway

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:53:16 GMT

Why should cars have all the fun?

Watch This Golf Cart-Hovercraft Fly Over Hazards Like They're Nothing

Colin Lecher — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:00:22 GMT

Never get caught in the rough again.

Golf carts aren't exactly marvels of horsepower, but that doesn't mean they can't be unique.

Take this hovercraft-cart, for example. It's actually a promotion for Oakley, with pro golfer Bubba Watson riding around. So, bad news: we can't throw money at Oakley and/or Bubba Watson until they give us one. But also: there is a golf hovercraft that exists, which makes the world a very slightly weirder place.

[USA Today]

In Attempt To Break Gridlock, Los Angeles Becomes First City To Synchronize Every Streetlight

Rebecca Boyle — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:32:40 GMT

The traffic-plagued city has 4,500 lights across 469 square miles.

It’s amazing how frustrating it can be to drive in L.A. Superhighways are jam-packed, cars crawl along in the worst rush hour of your life even though it’s only 2 p.m., and yet no one rides the scary subway. Last summer, it took me two solid hours to travel 28 miles--and that was on the highway, following a route Google said should take maybe 35 minutes.

L.A. officials are trying to do better, however, and they recently finished a decades-long project to synchronize all of its traffic lights.

It took city planners 30 years to build up the system, at a cost of more than $400 million, but L.A.’s Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control system is unique in its size and scope. The New York Times reviews its highlights:

Magnetic sensors in the road at every intersection send real-time updates about the traffic flow through fiber-optic cables to a bunker beneath downtown Los Angeles, where Edward Yu runs the network. The computer system, which runs software the city itself developed, analyzes the data and automatically makes second-by-second adjustments, adapting to changing conditions and using a trove of past data to predict where traffic could snarl, all without human involvement.

It automatically adjusts to account for issues at individual intersections, and it changes light timing to accommodate buses if they’re running behind. Without the system, it takes 20 minutes on average to drive 5 miles in L.A. With the system, that drops to 17.2 minutes, according to the NYT.

It’s more difficult than you might think to manage all of this. Every car, every lane and every intersection is a data point with ever-changing variables, making it a tough programming problem. L.A. developed its own software, but other cities are working with companies like IBM, which is helping Boston mine its traffic data. IBM is also developing software that can predict what drivers will do based on their driving patterns, and aggregating that information into network-wide predictions that can forecast traffic like you might forecast the weather.

Eventually, networks of connected cars will synchronize with each other as well as the lights. And they will even keep tabs on your habits to predict whether you'll contribute to gridlock: Honda, for instance, is developing technology that can warn drivers if they're likely to cause congestion, and Ford is working on in-car apps that can re-route drivers around smoggy, congested spots.

In the end, though, there’s not much anyone can really do about traffic. There are only so many miles of road, and more and more cars are using it. Reducing travel times might only encourage more people to drive--they will think, “Hey, it’s not so bad,” and more of them will drive, and it will be bad again. Easing congestion, in L.A. or elsewhere, really needs dramatic changes to infrastructure or the way we live and work.

Amphibious Fun Machine

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:17:20 GMT

The first land-and-sea ATV.

Personal amphibious vehicles have always felt like half-baked mashups—boats with wheels or cars with fins. But a craft can eclipse those attempts if it does two things: move as fast over water as it does on land and transition quickly from land to sea. Last year, Gibbs Sports Amphibians, a private Michigan company, announced that it had built a suspension that retracts in just five seconds and a transmission that consistently propels a craft to 45 mph. Gibbs delivered its first vehicles, large “amphitrucks” for tasks such as water rescue, last year. A smaller recreational version called the Quadski is on sale now.

Suspension
Gibbs engineers outfitted the Quadski with a modified automotive dual-wishbone suspension. To ensure that the fiberglass V-shaped hull has enough ground clearance, they repositioned the upright shaft, which attaches to the wheel, below the wishbone arms instead of between them.

Safety Lockout
The Quadski’s wheels will not retract unless it is in at least three feet of water. To make sure the water level is high enough, an optical sensor in the rear monitors the refraction of light through water; until the central computer receives the correct signal from that sensor, the wheels remain locked in road mode.

Retractable Wheels
The driver pushes a button to initiate retraction. A control module disconnects the differential to prevent the wheels from turning. Servomotors, similar to those on aircraft landing gear, retract the wheels. Sensors on each motor detect the angle of the wheels; when they’re 15 degrees above the horizontal, the motors shut off.

Land-And-Water Power
A thumb-operated throttle controls the four-cylinder, 140-horsepower engine. Torque passes through a pulley-and-belt-driven output shaft to the Quadski’s wheels or a larger-than-normal seven-inch water jet. In marine mode, the five-speed transmission remains in third gear. On land, the rider uses a shifter to toggle between gears.

Hydrodynamic Hull
In the past, amphibious vehicles used displacement hulls, which push water aside rather than lift a craft above it. Instead, the Quadski has a V-shaped hull, which forces the craft up and out of the water when it accelerates, allowing it to plane in about 3.5 seconds.

Gibbs Quadski
Top Speed: 45 mph
Transition Time: 5 seconds
Price: $40,000

This article originally appeared in the May 2013 issue of Popular Science. See the rest of the magazine here.

Video: Mercedes-Benz's First Electric Car For The U.S.

Rose Pastore — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:00:00 GMT

We got to see the brand-new Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive at the 2013 New York International Auto Show. Check it out!

brightcove.createExperiences();

The 6 Best Cars From The 2013 New York International Auto Show

Rose Pastore — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 21:00:00 GMT

An electric hatchback from Mercedes-Benz, the track-ready, street-legal Jaguar XKR-S GT, and more!

At this year's New York International Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz debuted its first electric car for the U.S., Cadillac unveiled a rather villainous-looking new CTS, and Jaguar showed up with a completely awesome, 550-horsepower track car (that also happens to be street legal). We've rounded up our six favorites here. Try not to drool on your keyboard!

Click here to enter the gallery

The 6 Best Cars From The 2013 New York International Auto Show

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 21:00:00 GMT

An electric hatchback from Mercedes-Benz, the track-ready, street-legal Jaguar XKR-S GT, and more!

Can Your Hybrid Cut Your Lawn? Here's One That Can

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:30:00 GMT

The Raven MPV-710 is a Chevy Volt for your backyard.

A Toyota Prius is many things, but a convenient lawn mower isn't one of them. Useless, right?

Luckily, it is now possible to buy a hybrid lawn mower, known as the Raven MPV-710.

In many ways, a hybrid mower makes sense. After all, if you're making an effort to be green, you might as well try and cut down on gasoline usage in all your vehicles--even the ones that never hit the streets.

Almost a cross between ATV and mower, the Raven MPV-710 appears to be one of the highest-tech options on the market.

The hybrid tag may put you in mind of a Toyota Prius, but in reality this thing is more like a Chevy Volt--its electric motor provides the drive, while the single-cylinder 420cc gasoline engine is used to generate the electricity it uses.

Because of the electric direct drive, Raven says it transfers more power to the wheels than most mowers on the market, and it's smoother too. Top speed is 17 mph, three times quicker than most mowers, and there's enough torque to pull up to 500 pounds. Though to actually get any mowing done you'll still have to slow down to 5 mph...

As with any hybrid, the MPV-710's efficiency benefits are also important. Used as a generator, the Raven's engine is more frugal than other mowers, so you'll get up to 12 hours of running on a 5-gallon fill.

Some hasty math suggests economy of around 40 mpg, though that's only if it can run for the full 12 hours at its top speed. Not that anyone uses these to make long trips anyway, so just be happy it can sip gas at a slower rate than its entirely-gasoline equivalents.

It can also be used as a generator, for users wishing to power electric tools.

The price for all this technology, after a bit of digging, is around the $3,000 mark. Which doesn't seem excessive to us, given the technology. But hey--someone out there knows more about ride-on lawn mowers than us. What do you think of the new green option?

This article, written by Antony Ingram, was originally published on Green Car Reports, a publishing partner of Popular Science. Follow Motor Authority on Facebook and Twitter.

More from Green Car Reports and affiliates:

2013 New York Auto Show Preview

2014 Mitsubishi Outlander: First Drive

2014 Lexus IS First Drive: Video