Car Tech

Valence Technology won't go it alone.

The company, which is angling to sell lithium ion battery markets to vehicle makers, has signed a licensing deal with Lishen Battery Stock Co. to help it gets its batteries quicker to market, said CEO Bob Kanode in a recent interview with News.com

Under the deal, Valence will sell its lithium powder to Lishen. Lishen in turn make battery cells out of the material and sell them back to Valence. Valence will then take the cells and make battery packs that it will sell for use in electric cars, military vehicles or … Read more

Hydrogen is lightweight and efficient as a fuel. When it burns, you get water as the exhaust, and the fuel cell technology that burns the gas is well developed. The major hang-up has been how to produce hydrogen without needing lots of fossil-derived energy.

Apparently, the way to cheap hydrogen is through aluminum. Purdue researchers earlier this year announced they'd found a way to use aluminum to get hydrogen from water. Today a Chinese ceramicist who did graduate work in Portugal says there's an even simpler way to derive hydrogen. This process uses powdered aluminum at room temperature, … Read more

A power outage, possibly related to the sweltering heat, has knocked out one of New York City's most heavily trafficked subway lines as well as some lights in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. The outage, which apparently began around 3:40 PM EDT, affected the 4, 5, and 6 subway lines (the green line), the D line, and power in nearby areas of Manhattan and the Bronx near Yankee Stadium. There's no word on when power will be restored yet.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority's Web site, meanwhile, is timing out, probably due to the overload … Read more

More advertising dollars are flowing to the Internet, in a trend that started years ago. Advertising Age has come out with its annual look at the United States top-100 advertising spenders. There are few surprises, but it's confirmation of what you've probably been seeing and expecting. Internet ads now account for 5.5 percent of total spending by the top 100 advertisers in the U.S. That adds up to nearly $10 billion, and the Internet's about even with radio and ahead of outdoor.

What are the biggest losers? TV's share of ad spending has been … Read more

Foreign Tires Sales, a New Jersey tire importer and distributor, requested Monday that the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration recall about 500,000 tires made for SUVs, pickups and light-duty trucks.

The tires were manufactured in China by the Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Company for the brands Westlake, Telluride, Compass and YKS. In addition to New Jersey, the tires are distributed out of Minnesota, Florida, Maryland and California.

FTS first suspected the tires were defective after a rise in warranty claims in October 2005 prompted it to conduct its own tests. In May 2006, the tests confirmed that the tires … Read more

Carbon footprint, energy use, green tech: some phrases that won't be going away. From gasoline prices to global warming, we're likely to become more aware of what energy we burn up, just as most of us now have some sense of whether we're eating wisely (or not).

Just today the Live Earth concert folks e-mailed me a link to their carbon calculator. This one walks you through several pages of simple questions about how you live, and especially how you travel. This calculator was built by Earthlab.org. They want to know the size of your dwelling, … Read more

Toyota shareholders have approved the appointment of Jim Press, general manager of Toyota Motor North America, as a senior managing director to the company's board.

Press is the first non-Japanese person to ever be appointed to the automaker's board of directors.

The move was interpreted as a sign that the Japanese automaker wants to show the world that it's truly a global corporation.

The news comes amidst Toyota's release of May production and export results for its Toyota, Daihatsu and Hino brands.

The automaker hit its 18th consecutive month of growth in exports, which it attributed … Read more

Ferrari would like to set the record straight for those devout Catholics out there who have an extra $200,000 kicking around.

Its cars are by no means mere symbols of enviable status and power. Most people who buy Ferraris have an appreciation for the fun of driving, Amedeo Felisa, vice general manager of Ferrari, told Reuters.

"Unless having fun has become a sin, I don't believe it" is wrong, Felisa told Reuters from an event in Milan celebrating the company's 60th anniversary.

The luxury carmaker, it seems, felt it had to respond to the fifth … Read more