Once the circuit board overheats, it can cause the cars’ 12-volt battery to drain and one of several indicator lights to turn on on the instrument panel, which means that owners will be aware of the issue when it happens. However, if drivers ignore the warning lights (which we all do sometimes, right?), the engine could eventually stall and start a fire in the trunk.

Thankfully, though, the issue doesn’t affect the rechargable lithium-ion battery that’s a part of the cars’ electric hybrid system. If you’re curious to know whether your specific car is or will be affected, General Motors says that most of the incidents reported have happened within the first 1,000 miles of driving with the cars. No accidents or injuries were reported.

We actually took a look at Buick’s latest LaCrosse and Regal hybrid models during the New York Auto Show back in March. These new models aren’t a part of the recall, as they’re the 2014 models. The new cars come with the company’s next-generation IntelliLink infotainment system, which we got our hands on as well.

[via LA Times]

The recall affects BMW’s 3-series and M3 vehicles from 2002 to 2003, and according to data from the NHTSA, there are about 1.3 million of these vehicles in the US, with just over 42,000 of them being recalled, which means that only a small percentage of these cars are affected by the malfunctioning airbag.

The faulty airbags, made by Takata, were produced from April 2000 to September 2002 at one of the company’s plants in Washington state, according to the NHTSA. The propellant components in the airbag’s inflator may have been produced with an insufficient “compaction force,” leading to malfunctioning when the airbag is activated,

However, the recall most likely won’t affect all the cars involved. BMW spokesman Dave Buchko said that all five car manufacturers involved in the massive Takata recall, there was only about a small handful of improper deployments (around a dozen total) of airbags that have been reported among over 3.4 million vehicles affected.

[via Reuters]

However, Musk is wanting self-driving technology that’s more like the autopilot system in airplanes, mentioning that the word “self-driving” implies that the car is “going to do something you don’t want it to do.” Instead, Musk says that autopilot would be perfect, and says that cars “should have it.”

While Bloomberg reports that Musk is currently in talks with Google, it seems as if he wants to implement his own system for self-driving cars, rather than just use Google’s technology. Musk says that “Google’s current approach is that the sensor system is too expensive.” Instead, he claims that “an optical system” would be better, which is an array of cameras that can tell what’s going on just by looking at the surroundings.

Toyota demonstrated a similar system to what Musk describes back in January, and the auto maker is also an investor of Tesla, so we could see the two companies work together possibly on a new self-driving technology. However, it’ll be a long while before self-driving and autopilot cars hit the mainstream. Until then, save up your money.

UPDATE: Elon Musk said over Twitter that making autopilot Tesla cars is “important,” but it’s not yet a “top priority” for the company. Musk says that production of autopilot cars is still a “few years” away.

UPDATE 2: Musk further comments via Twitter that the report from Bloomberg is “off-the-cuff” and that there is “no big announcement here.”

[via Bloomberg]

The ground vehicle is specifically designed for remote handling and surveillance of hazardous threats. Northrop says that the vehicle uses a modular design to allow the end-user to deal safely with a range of hazardous threats from a distance. The vehicle can be used for detecting and disposing of explosive ordinance among other tasks.

The design allows the vehicle to accommodate a wide range of payloads, sensors, and tools. Northrop says that the CUTLASS’ ability to accommodate a wide range of payloads means that users don’t have to deploy two standard unmanned vehicles. The main tool for the CUTLASS is a three-fingered gripper arm with nine-degrees of freedom.

The mine-degrees of freedom gives the robotic arm greater movement capability and agility allowing it to move inside limited spaces. The arm also has specialized sensing systems allowing for a high level of dexterity and minimizes damage to property. The high level of dexterity for the arm also allows for the preserving of forensic evidence. The vehicle is able to reach speeds of up to 12 kph and features a six-wheel design allowing for mobility on all sorts of terrain and in all sorts of weather conditions.

[via Northrop Grumman]

One of these vehicles is the Ariel Atom. This car is very minimalist and is typically built using lots of fiberglass, carbon fiber, and a tube-frame chassis. The vehicles have no doors and have no roof. The company has announced that it is making its already lightweight vehicle even lighter by using a new material for the chassis of the sports car.

Typically, the cars are made using a tubular steel frame and Ariel Motors is now working on a special edition of the Atom that we use a titanium chassis. The titanium chassis is said to be 40% lighter than the tubular steel frame Atom uses currently. The manufacturer says that the new frame will reduce the overall weight of the car by as much as 8%.

Ariel Motors is targeting a weight below 500 kg, which is about 1100 pounds in the US. If the company meets that target weight, that would make the special edition Ariel Atom weigh about half as much as a Mazda Miata. The special edition titanium frame Atom will use the naturally aspirated Honda engine featuring lightweight mechanical components. There is no word on pricing or availability for the titanium Atom at this time.

[via Motoward]

The helmet is called the RV MSX1 Motorcycle helmet and has a flip up front. The helmet will be ready for the 2013 riding season and has been tested and approved to DOT standard for the US and ECE 22.05 standards for European markets. The helmet has an integrated optical device that allows motorcyclists to view the road behind them through the helmet.

At first glance you might think that the helmet uses a camera system, but it doesn’t. The optical device that shows the rider what’s behind them uses a number of reflective surfaces that are coated onto a bullet proof material. The optical device bends light over the top of the wearer’s head allowing them to see what’s behind them using their peripheral vision.

The company already has a standard full face model planned (pictured) called the RV FSX1 that will launch later this year. The helmet offers motorcyclists a rearview mirror system. The optic system can be moved to adjust the rearview to suit the rider’s needs. The reflective polycarbonate plate used in rearview system also act as a crumple zone in the event of an accident helping to protect the rider even further.

[via Reevu]

The vehicle is designed to “explore the use of autonomous technologies and high-level driver assistance systems” that pertain to Toyota’s Integrated Safety Management Concept. The video is little more than a 5-second tease, but gives us a nice glimpse of the vehicle in all its decked-out charm driving down the road.

Judging by the looks of things, the vehicle is adorned with an autonomous driving system, congruent with the company’s plans to show off that autonomous technology next week. The equipment allows the car to be aware of its surroundings, such as the guard rail seen in the video, and operate accordingly. The vehicle upon which the contraptions are perched is the Lexus LS 600h.

More details will be available on Monday, when Lexus’s Vice President and General Manager Mark Templin will introduce the technology, research, and other information we can’t wait to hear. We’ll be covering CES 2013 next week, and will certainly keep an eye out for the latest information on Toyota’s system. Be sure to check back regularly for the latest updates.

According to documents filed with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, GM is recalling the mid-size trucks because the hood may be missing a secondary hood latch, so if the primary latch is not engaged the hood could open and block the driver’s view, thus increasing the risk of an accident.

Luckily, there haven’t been any reports of accidents or injuries related to the issue, and there are only four known cases of the secondary hood latch actually missing, but as with any recall, it’s better to be safe than sorry, and GM is asking those 145,000 affected to bring their truck in for an inspection.

GM said they’ll be notifying owners and instructing them to either inspect their trucks themselves (since it’s an easy inspection compared to most other recalls), or take the truck to a GM dealer for a free inspection. If inspectors discover that the secondary latch is missing, a new hood will be installed for free. GM expects to begin mailing letters to owners on January 17.

[via Reuters]

Image via Flickr

Ford and EnerSys teamed up with Bigfoot and outfitted the monster truck with 36 EnerSys batteries, as well as a 350HP electric motor, and has claimed to be the first ones to build the first proper EV monster truck. The result is a much quieter car-crushing machine, which takes away a little of the fun, since half of the entertainment is listening to those crazy-loud engines.

The video shows the new all-electric Bigfoot in action, and while it does appear that it doesn’t have quite the torque of a true gasoline-powered monster truck, it still has the same crushing power thanks to the immensely-large tires and the weight of those 36 batteries. And while the truck isn’t completely silent, you have to admit that it doesn’t make a lot of noise compared to traditional monster trucks.

In all, the truck’s 36 batteries add an extra 1,375 pounds, and while the system includes on-board battery chargers, there is no word on how long such a job would take, or how long the batteries last on a single charge. Don’t expect this new monster truck to be in competitions anytime soon — it’s mostly just for show for the time being.

Luckily, Fisker thought ahead and had each and every Karma insured. The cars were destroyed when the port flooded, though some of the Karmas actually caught fire when the saltwater shorted their batteries. The wind from Hurricane Sandy made things worse, spreading the fire to other cars. In the end, 16 Karmas had caught fire, but Fisker says there weren’t any explosions.

Even though having 300 cars destroyed is a pretty big loss, Fisker says it probably won’t suffer too much of a financial setback and that this shouldn’t cause any immediate problems with stock in the US, since there already cars in the States waiting to be sold. All in all, it sounds like Fisker will be relatively okay despite the fact that Sandy destroyed 300 completed and ready-to-be sold Karmas.

Fisker hasn’t been having the best of luck lately. Earlier in the year there were reports of Karmas randomly catching fire, and it wasn’t too long ago that we heard of one of Fisker’s manufacturing partners running out cash and selling off assets. Fisker could really use a pick-me-up right about now, but at it least it sounds like the company dodged a very expensive bullet when Sandy came to town.

[via Wall Street Journal]

The Quadski is a true all-terrain vehicle designed to operate on water and on land. The ATV wheels retract up in out-of-the-way allowing the boat-like vehicle to cruise through lakes or ponds. The biggest downside to the Quadski that I can see is cost, when it goes on sale in the US it will cost around $40,000.

The vehicle was made by company in Michigan called Gibbs Amphibians Inc, and the company hopes to sell the vehicle globally by 2014. The vehicle uses a four-cylinder BMW supplied engine and is capable of up to 45 mph on land or in the water. 45 mph isn’t fast on land, but that’s moving at a brisk clip on water.

The Quadski can be driven straight into water and at the press of a button, the wheels will retract up and out of the way for water cruising in about 5 seconds. The designers of this amphibious vehicle claim that it’s the first land vehicle available for sale that can go over 10 mph in the water. The hull of the vehicle is made from fiberglass.

[via Herald Sun]

Details are still pretty scarce, but we’re imagining that you can get some pretty good distance from a full charge with a car this tiny. After all, looking at the pictures above, it’s clear that this vehicle only fits one person, so we’re assuming that a full charge can take this thing quite some distance. The doors also open upward instead of outward, which adds to the distinctive bug-like look.

The Smart INSECT features a motion sensor that can detect when you’re nearby. As you approach, the doors open for you, so not only are you helping to save the environment by purchasing this car, but you can also feel a little like James Bond every time you get in your INSECT. The Toyota Virtual Agent can give you traffic reports through your smartphone, and if you’re Toyota Home user, you can even use your smartphone to lock and unlock the door to your house from the car. There are likely many more smart features than the ones we’re hearing about on the show floor at Ceatec, so we’ll be keeping an eye out for those.

As stated above, details are slim – super slim, for that matter – so we’re not sure when this car is launching, where it’s launching, or how much it will cost. One thing is certain: the Toyota Smart INSECT has officially caught our attention, so we’ll definitely be watching for new details to surface. Stay tuned.

The Aerofex hover vehicle looks similar to the hover bike we talked about last year. The main difference is rather than one geek working on the project, Aerofex is a company that hopes to commercialize the technology. One of the most interesting parts is that Aerofex has solved some of the instability issues plaguing similar earlier designs and says operation of the vehicle is so simple no pilot training is required.

Rather than having wheels like a normal motorcycle, the Aerofex vehicle has a pair of ducted rotors. The company has addressed stability issues in the design using a mechanical system with two control bars located at the rider’s knee level. Those control bars allow the vehicle to respond to the pilots leaning movements and natural sense of balance.

Control of the bike is handled mechanically with no electronics or artificial intelligence flight software required. That should make the bike more robust, cheaper to purchase and operate, and safer. Aerofex has crushed my dreams somewhat because the company doesn’t plan to develop and sell versions design for people to ride to start with. The company envisions the vehicle as a test platform for new unmanned drones.

[via Space.com]

Fiat says that the espresso maker is “perfectly integrated” in the center console, with the company itself designing the deck. The maker uses its own power source, so all you need to provide is the water and Lavazza’s “A Modo Mio” coffee pods and you’re good to go. We wonder just how hard it will be to fill an espresso maker with ground up coffee and water while you’re driving, but it’s happening anyway so we may as well just be quiet and roll with it.

The Fiat 500L will become available in the rest of Europe shortly following its Italian release in October. After that, it’s travelling across the Atlantic to the US in 2013, but we have a feeling that American consumers aren’t going to have the option of installing a coffee maker when the car arrives here. After all, we already can’t text while driving in a number of places, so why would the government be okay with us making coffee while driving? Sadly, it seems the dream of having coffee that’s truly “on-the-go” will likely never be a reality here in the US, but then again, that’s probably for the best.

For more interesting (and sometimes strange) car and coffee-related stories, check out the story timeline below!

[via USA Today]

This new line of EVs is primarily planned as a competitor to the BMW 3-series, and Holzhausen says that Tesla is aiming for a $30,000 price tag on the new cars. He also says that Telsa is going to be a little more open minded when it comes to the design and personality of its cars moving forward, telling Autocar that the company will “become more experimental as we develop as a brand.”

Elsewhere on the internet, Car and Driver says that not only is Tesla planning a BMW 3 competitor, but it’s also working on a new version of the roadster. Both the roadster and the 3 competitor will likely be based on the Model S’s platform, but both will probably also be a bit smaller, meaning that the range of these new cars might not be able to match that of the Model S.

So, some exciting news coming out of Tesla today. Sadly, with the Model X and the Model S taking up the lion’s share of Tesla’s attention at the moment, the earliest we’ll probably see these cars is 2015. But hey, what’s life without a little something to look forward to now and then?

[via Car and Driver]

There are some vehicles on the road already that have automatic emergency braking when the car senses an accident; Ford has been offering the technology for a while now. With this tech when car sensors detect an impending collision the brakes automatically activate without driver intervention. According to Euro NCAP, autonomous emergency braking systems can reduce accidents by up to 27%.

According to the survey the organization performed, these emergency braking systems are unavailable on 79% of car models sold in Europe. The survey also found that 66% of manufacturers don’t offer autonomous emergency braking systems on any new car models. The survey found that premium car brands such as Volvo, Infiniti, and Mercedes have the best levels of standard autonomous emergency braking system fitment. The company also notes that Jaguar, Land Rover, Audi, and Lexis have systems as optional equipment. Standard mass-market automakers offering the system as an option include Mazda, Ford, Honda, and Volkswagen.