2014 Toyota Prius Two on 2040-cars

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Ram takes out frustrations on Camry

No, not a Ram pickup truck. This is an actual ram, as in a male sheep, headbutting the hell out of a Toyota Camry that made the unfortunate decision to interrupt its battle with a rival member of the flock. Now, before you say, "How dare that Camry harm that cuddly sheep," we'd like to point out just how viciously the two males were fighting before the Toyota butted in. And after smashing the driver's side front fascia, the ram goes right back to attempting to beat down its opponent. All things considered then, we'd call this Ram: 1, Camry: 0.

Recharge Wrap-up: Toyota FCV wears silver, Foxconn's $15K EV, solar power at GM

The Toyota FCV made its North American debut at the 2014 Aspen Ideas Festival, and this time it's not sporting its usual blue sheet metal. This silver paint job shows a bit more contrast. Certain features stand out a bit more, especially the black strip that wraps around the grille and down the sides of the hood to the mirrors. This is the production version of the car's exterior, which will go on sale in California next summer. Toyota also had its Driver Awareness Research Vehicle, DARV 1.5, on display in Aspen. DARV 1.5 uses technology to decrease driver distraction and measure driver behavior to provide a safe driving score. See more of both cars in our image gallery. Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry (also know as FoxConn Technology Group) says it is planning to build electric cars that will cost just $15,000, according to The China Post. The world's largest electronics maker, which assembles mobile devices for Apple, promises that the cars will be highly connected. "When integrated with cloud computing, the Internet, smart traffic and smart cities in the future, people will be able to drive more easily and reduce car accidents more efficiently," says Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou. At a shareholder's meeting, Gou didn't comment on production timing or other details about the cars, nor would he answer questions about possible cooperation with Tesla Motors. Hon Hai made headlines in recent years after a series of employee suicides, which led the company to raise worker wages and install anti-suicide netting on its buildings. EV advocates in Illinois took a 500-mile road trip to help temper range anxiety in potential buyers, says the Chicago Tribune. The demonstration, organized by the Illinois Green Economy Network, meant to show people that they can use electric vehicles to drive long distances without getting stranded with a dead battery. The drive began near Carbondale and traveled to 11 different community colleges with charging stations before terminating in Grayslake. Illinois has about 5,000 registered electric vehicles, and 450 public and private charging stations. General Motors is building three acres of new solar arrays to produce an expected 400,000 kilowatt-hours of renewable energy per year. The new arrays at GM's Swartz Creek processing center and Flint engine plant will be completed this fall, contributing to the company's 38 megawatts of solar power from facilities around the world.

GT Academy returns, and why Gran Turismo 6 demands a pedal/wheel setup

The path to become a racing driver is a difficult one. It requires starting early, with karts, and then building up through the years and if you're really, really good (and really, really lucky), a team will notice you and sign you up. Or, you know, you could just become really good at Gran Turismo, and beat out other like-minded fanatics for a seat in the GT Academy.
The racing school, which culls its students from the ranks of Gran Turismo players has already pumped out successful racers, most notably, Lucas Ordoñez, who has a second and third-place finish under his belt at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With the 2014 GT Academy kicking off April 21 and running through June 16, you could have a chance to be the next Ordoñez.
That won't be easy, though. We recently had a playthrough on GT6 the proper way - with a racing seat, pedals and a steering wheel, complete with column-mounted paddles. (Our setup looked just like the one you see above, though that image is from E3.) In other words, it was as close to driving an actual car as most console games can get.