A parked car should understand the concept of being parked. The engine is off. The keys are inside the house. The garage has been quiet for hours. Then something beneath the car begins to hu
An electric car is sitting in the driveway with 200 miles of range showing in the app. The large battery beneath the floor contains enough energy to move two tons of metal across an entire county.
A cold engine starts, and a pale cloud rolls out of the exhaust. The sight is particularly dramatic on a winter morning, when the plume hangs behind the car as though the engine has chosen a new caree
The fuel light comes on. The dashboard says 80 miles to empty. The next gas station is 35 miles away, so there should be no problem. Ten miles later, the display reads 54. Nothing has leaked out. N
Fresh motor oil is reassuring stuff. It pours from the bottle in a clear amber stream, looking clean enough to belong in a kitchen rather than an engine. A few hundred miles later, the dipstick can
Park, Reverse, Neutral and Drive need little introduction. Then there is B. It sits on the shifter of many hybrids looking important but refusing to explain itself. Battery seems like the obvious
The pump stops at $47.83. It is not a particularly satisfying number. Another quick squeeze would make it $48. A couple more might bring it to a nice, tidy $50. The nozzle clicks again, a few drops di
The car looked spotless when it was parked. Then it rained overnight, or perhaps the wheels received an enthusiastic blast at the car wash. By morning, the shiny brake rotors had turned orange. Not sl
There are dashboard lights that can wait until the weekend. A low washer-fluid warning, for instance, is hardly a reason to abandon a grocery run. The red oil-can symbol is not one of those lights.
The extra button at the fuel pump has a way of making regular gasoline seem slightly irresponsible. It is sitting there with a higher number, a higher price, and the word “premium” printed