Bendix Dual Bowl Master Cylinder on 2040-parts.com

Battery breakthrough set to accelerate electric-car development

A team of scientists working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are claiming a significant breakthrough in recharging times for lithium-ion batteries. According to findings published in the scientific journal Nature, MIT researchers Byoungwoo Kang and Gerbrand Ceder have unlocked the potential of lithium-ion batteries by patenting a unique process which is claimed to allow a typical laptop power pack to be fully recharged in less than a minute--an improvement in recharging performance of roughly 90 percent over existing lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries generate electric current via the flow of lithium ions across an electrolyte, from an electrode to a cathode.

GM grants Saab a reprieve, CEO Henderson resigns

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 02 December 2009 15:51 The board of General Motors has granted Saab a lifeline – by extending the deadline for bids on its stricken Swedish patient to 31 December 2009. GM has been trying to sell Saab for the past year, and the Swedish car maker has been under court bankruptcy protection since February 2009.GM chief executive officer Fritz Henderson also announced he was to stand down. His interim successor is hard-nosed GM chairman Ed Whitacre – meaning that GM Europe and the US mothership have both lost their bosses in a matter of weeks.

Watch craftsmen build the Alfa Romeo 4C

Hey, remember the Alfa Romeo 4C? Maybe the long lag between the two-seater's Geneva motor show debut and the launch scheduled for later this year (to say nothing of the car's maddeningly long gestation period) has left your memory a little rusty, but the workers at the Modena Maserati plant haven't forgotten about the 4C. Need proof?