1953-1954 Chevy Glove Box Door on 2040-parts.com

GM to double size of battery lab

General Motors says it will spend $8 million to double the size of its Global Battery Systems Lab, which the company claims is the largest and most technologically advanced automotive battery lab in the United States. GM says the expansion will speed up the development of hybrid and electric vehicles, such as the upcoming Chevrolet Volt, by improving on-site testing of battery cells and systems. When finished, the lab will be 30,000 square feet bigger than it is now, for a 63,000-square-foot total.

Tesla Motors open-sources patents

Since Elon Musk founded Tesla Motors a decade ago, his electric car venture has been a thorn in the traditional auto manufacturers' side. Now, Musk has made another disruptive move by announcing he is scrapping the firm's patents. In a blog post on the Tesla website, he wrote "[the patents] have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.

Mazda 3, Mazda 6 get customized for the SEMA Show

We like the look of Mazda's current lineup, from the basic 2 to the sleek 6. Kodo design language has a lot to do with it -- Mazda North American Operations design director Derek Jenkins says that, thanks that Kodo styling, "the Zoom-Zoom genetic code is further being embraced, not buried, through increasingly expressive vehicle design." (Ugh.-ED) We didn't know genetics had anything to do with it, but hey -- tough to argue with the results. Perhaps Kodo's effectiveness is why Mazda's SEMA show concepts are fairly...restrained compared to what other automakers are bringing to Las Vegas.