(August 19, 2011) DETROIT — John “Moose” Bednarchik and Suzanne “Suzy” Cody are not your typical automotive engineers. He’s an admitted “fitness nut” who got a second chance at life after nearly dying of a heart attack at age 33. She’s a blue-haired, Camaro-driving, roller derby-playing mom. Together, they’ve helped shape the design of Chevrolet’s most fuel-efficient midsize car ever, the 2013 Malibu.

(August 19, 2011) Revealed earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show, the three-door version of the new second-generation Kia Picanto city car enters the British market this fall with prices starting from £7,795 ($12,472). Kia has revealed the official specs and pricing for the new Picanto, a model which will go on sale on Sept. 1 in the UK.

(August 19, 2011) COSTA MESA, Calif. (PRNewswire) — T3 Motion, a producer of clean technology electric vehicles, announced this week that the University of Southern California has placed an order for nine additional T3 ESVs to supplement their electric vehicle fleet.

In 2007, USC entered a trial period with T3 ESVs to assess the vehicle benefits and capabilities for security initiatives. Since then, the school has purchased 28 ESVs — making their fleet the largest of any university worldwide. The vehicles have been used on the 300-acre campus for security patrol checks, student escorts, traffic and crowd control.

(August 18, 2011) NORTHVILLE, Mich. (PRNewswire) — Amerigon Incorporated has announced it has been awarded an $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to lead the development of an energy recovery system that can improve passenger car fuel efficiency by five percent by converting waste heat from gas exhaust into electric power using a thermoelectric generator.