Technology, features and articles | Educational Science

Jun 12, 2014

Free for All: Tesla Motors Makes Electric Car Patents Open Source

In a bold move, Tesla Motors is making all the patents for the company's electric car technology free and available for anyone to use. In a blog entry posted today (June 12), Tesla founder and chief operating officer Elon Musk said the decision to share the company's patents was made...

Sep 5, 2014

Tesla Motors to Build Battery 'Gigafactory' in Nevada

Tesla Motors is building a new factory in Nevada to produce batteries for its electric cars, the company announced Thursday (Sept. 4). The state has been selected as the official site for Tesla's futuristic-sounding Gigafactory, according to Elon Musk, chairman and CEO of the Palo Alto, California-based Tesla Motors. The...

Sep 12, 2014

World's First Electric Car Race Kicks Off This Weekend

The world of car racing is about to go green. The first-ever racing series featuring only electric cars will begin this weekend in China. On Saturday (Sept. 13), sleekly designed electric vehicles will zoom around a 2.14-mile (3.4 kilometers) course in Beijing that will take the cars past the city's...

Oct 8, 2014

What Will Tesla Motors Reveal Thursday?

Tesla Motors is set to make a big announcement tomorrow (Oct. 9), after more than a week of speculation about the electric car company's next move, sparked by a mysterious tweet from CEO Elon Musk. On Oct. 1, Musk wrote in a post on Twitter that it was time to...

Oct 9, 2014

Tesla Motors Announces All-Wheel Drive Model S & New Safety Tech

After more than a week of anticipation, Tesla Motors finally revealed the D — and it doesn't stand for driverless, as had been widely rumored. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's electric car company will now offer all-wheel-drive versions of the Tesla Model S, including one high-end option that can accelerate from...

Oct 16, 2014

Is Car Hacking the Next Big Security Threat?

It may seem convenient to have a hands-free phone built into your car, or to have a GPS system in your vehicle, but as automobiles incorporate more navigation and wireless communication technologies, could these super-connected cars become increasingly vulnerable to hackers? Actually, the idea of hacking cars isn't all that...

Nov 21, 2014

Electric Vehicle Fleet Gives California Green Energy Boost

The crowded highways of Los Angeles just got a little greener, thanks to a new electric-vehicle program sponsored by the U.S. Air Force. The fleet of 42 electrically powered sedans, trucks and vans was recently unveiled at Los Angeles Air Force Base in California. Based on technology known as V2G,...

Jan 9, 2015

Following Tesla's Lead, Toyota Makes Fuel Cell Patents Free

Toyota is making thousands of its hydrogen fuel cell patents available royalty-free, the car company announced this week at CES 2015 in Las Vegas. The company will make more than 5,600 fuel cell patentsavailable through 2020 to carmakers who produce and sell fuel cell vehicles, and to parts suppliers and...

Jun 28, 2016

Record-Breaking Electric Car Goes from 0 to 62 Mph in 1.5 Seconds

In a record-setting feat, an electric car zoomed from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in just 1.513 seconds last week, making it the fastest known electric car in the world. The Grimsel electric car took less than 98 feet (30 meters) to reach 62 mph, according to ETH Zurich,...

Jul 1, 2016

What the First Driverless Car Fatality Means for Self-Driving Tech

A crash that killed a driver in a Tesla Model S electric car in self-driving mode has called into question the safety of driverless vehicle technology. This week, federal officials announced the launch of a formal investigation into the accident. The crash occurred on May 7 in Williston, Florida, when...

Aug 25, 2016

Why Tesla's Model S Is So Incredibly Fast

Editor's Note: This article was updated on Aug. 25 at 1:25 p.m. E.T. and Aug. 29 at 10:25 a.m. E.T. Blink and you'll miss it: The Tesla Model S was just rated the third-fastest accelerating production car in the world, beating out cars such as the Lamborghini Aventador and the...

Sep 19, 2016

New Electric Bus Can Travel 350 Miles on Single Charge

A new electric, zero-emission vehicle has an impressive range: The city bus can travel 350 miles (560 kilometers) on a single charge, potentially being able to complete a full day's work without needing to be recharged. Set for release next year from the startup Proterra, the Catalyst E2 Series electric...

Nov 3, 2016

US Designates Electric Vehicle Charging Corridors

The federal government is designating 48 electric vehicle charging corridors along 25,000 miles of major U.S. highways as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions and make it easier for drivers to switch to electric cars, the White House announced Thursday. The plan calls for electric vehicle charging stations to...

Nov 17, 2016

Bright Idea: Glow-in-the-Dark Dye Could Power Cars

If the world one day sees a boom in electric cars and renewable energy, people will need more efficient batteries than are currently available. Now, researchers say a glow-in-the-dark dye used to track chemicals in cells could offer a solution. The chemical is boron-dipyrromethene, otherwise known as BODIPY, and it...

Nov 23, 2016

Hackers Turn Tesla Into a Brain-Controlled Car

Oh it's turning. Brake! Alright, we're scared but we're good. The Tesla Model S had only gone a few feet, rolling mostly straight from one empty spot in the parking garage to another. The driver wasn't actually behind the wheel, though. He sat in the passenger's seat, donning an EEG...