A car battery does not need to be completely dead to leave the car behaving as though it is. Sometimes the battery is charged and perfectly willing to work, but the electricity cannot get past the
The low-fuel light is on, so a few gallons go into the tank. The engine starts, the receipt confirms that actual gasoline was purchased, and the gauge responds by remaining exactly where it was. No
Automatic stop-start has a peculiar talent for irritating drivers both when it works and when it does not. At one traffic light, the engine shuts down the moment the car stops. At the next, it keep
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.
Can a newcomer from China tempt buyers away from a BMW X7 or Mercedes-Benz GLS? Zeekr is betting it can. The brand has unveiled the European-spec 9X, bringing one of its most advanced SUVs to the regi
A turn signal normally keeps a relaxed, predictable beat. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Then, without warning, it sounds as though someone has doubled the tempo. The arrow on the dashboard flashes furiously
Neutral has a reassuring name. It sounds harmless, disconnected and mechanically impartial. Put the selector in N, release the parking brake and the car can roll. Surely that means it can also be towe
There was a time when replacing a car battery was a reassuringly simple job. Disconnect the old one, wrestle it out of its tray, drop in the new one and tighten the terminals. If the engine started, t
Red goes to positive. Black goes to negative. It is the sort of rule that feels too simple to forget. It is also incomplete. When jump-starting many modern cars, the final black clamp is not suppos
The key fob worked perfectly that morning. A few hours later, it has apparently decided that opening the car is no longer part of its job. The unlock button does nothing. The door handle ignores