range

VIA Motors, PG&E partner on the Chevy Volt of work trucks

San Francisco, Calif.--VIA Motors claimed a "first" today with the delivery of a pair of work trucks for use in California's Pacific Gas and Electric Company's (PG&E) fleet. These were no regular pickups, because although they are based on the Chevrolet Silverado, the trucks that VIA built are extended-range electric vehicles (eREV).

If you are familiar with the way the Chevrolet Volt works, you should have no trouble wrapping your head around the way VIA's eREV trucks function. For the first 40 miles of operation, the eREV truck is motivated solely by … Read more

West Coast highway just got a lot more EV-friendly

Say goodbye to range anxiety--well, while heading through the Pacific Northwest, anyway.

A 160-mile stretch of Interstate 5, dubbed the Electric Highway, now offers a little piece of mind for EV drivers, the Associated Press reported.

According to the story, EV drivers from the northern border of California to Cottage Grove, Ore., can stop at any one of eight stations, which are spaced out along the road about every 25 miles, for free.

Electric vehicles charge at three different levels: Level 1 DC, for example, uses 110 volts and vehicles charge over-night. Level 2 uses 240 volts, and can charge … Read more

It's Dynamic Range Day, turn it up

Dynamic Range Day comes to us from Turn Me Up, a non-profit music organization working with artists and recording professionals who are promoting more dynamic recordings. Most contemporary recordings are anything but; they are mixed to sound loud all the time.

I know that might seem ridiculous, every music player--radio, iPod, hi-fi, or home theater system--has a volume control. You can listen quietly or turn it way up, but do you realize that every recording--every album, video, movie, or TV show--has been mixed with a fixed relative loudness level? Many movies have extremely wide soft-to-loud dynamic range, but nowadays music … Read more

Geneva auto show plays host to exotic power and futuristic frugality

Switzerland has set itself as neutral ground in Europe, a role it plays every year between the automotive manufacturing powerhouses of Germany and France. The International Motor Show in Geneva gives equal time to not only the regional automakers, but interlopers from the United States and Asia.

Geneva's proximity to the wealthy gearheads of Monaco also assures a good mix of exotic and specialty carmakers. CNET will be covering the show's press days, sending back photos, video, and stories during the week of March 5.

Here are some of the cars we expect to see. … Read more

Convertible Range Rover Evoque follows in ill-conceived footsteps

It wasn't the first convertible crossover to reach production, but I was hoping that the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet would be the last. Unfortunately, Land Rover will also be peeling back the top of its own Range Rover Evoque crossover at the 2012 Geneva Auto Show next week.

The Range Rover Evoque Convertible will feature a power retractable cloth top with a glass rear window pane. A Roll Over Protection System (ROPS) protects passengers in the event of a rollover by instantaneously popping up roll hoops behind the rear passengers when the vehicle senses that it's about to roll. … Read more

Car Tech Live 252: Is your car poisoning you? (podcast)

Not all the toxics in your car from from the tailpipe. There's a new ranking out this week that finds the worst polluters inside the car and offers some hint of how you can shop to avoid sitting in a toxic chamber when you buy a new car.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 252 SHOW NOTES

2012 Range Rover Evoque: What's all the hype about?

The stylish new Range Rover Evoque has been collecting awards like a blue whale in a patch of krill. And considering its high-tech, efficient engine and off-road capability, most of those awards are deserved.

But in the area of cabin electronics, it falls short of its luxury car competition. Where other car companies are beginning to explore connected in-car systems, the Evoque is just covering the basics of navigation, digital audio, and a Bluetooth phone system.

That is not to say the Evoque's cabin electronics are bad. The response of the touch screen may be a bit pokey, but … Read more

Amped Wireless R10000G router review: Range so amped!

You counted right, the Amped Wireless R10000G router has four zeros in its name.

Those digits are intended to indicate that the router is able to offer Wi-Fi coverage for an area of 10,000 square feet, about 10 times that of a good-size apartment.

In my testing, it indeed offered really long range.… Read more

Amped Wireless R10000G router gears to redefine Wi-Fi coverage

LAS VEGAS--Most of us live in an apartment of about 1,000 square feet or less; Amped Wireless says it new router can cover an area 10 times larger.

The company showed off at CES 2012 the new R10000G High Power Wireless-N 600mW Gigabit Router. Powered by a 620MHz processor, dual high-power Wi-Fi 600mW amplifiers, and dual high-gain 5dBi antennas, this new router is set to deliver up to 10,000 square feet of Wi-Fi coverage.

To put things in perspective, most regular routers have a wireless output power of 50 milliwatts (mW); the R10000G is 600mW.

Amped Wireless says … Read more

Netgear range extender gets true dual-band

LAS VEGAS--If you have a true dual-band router and want to extend the range of both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands at the same time, Netgear has something to offer.

The company unveiled today at CES 2012 the Universal Dual-Band WiFi Range Extender (model WN2500RP), its first dual-band extender that can extend the range of both bands at the same time. All you need to do is place the device in between the existing wireless router and the area that needs coverage and use Wi-Fi Protected Setup to connect the two. Your Wi-Fi network will then be extended further.… Read more