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Hyundai i30 N: This is the 271-horsepower hot hatch we won't get

Hyundai has finally taken the wraps off of its very first N-badged car, the i30 N, along with many of the car's features and specs. Visually, the car has subtle changes including larger grilles in the front bumper, a front spoiler with red trim, black headlight housings, new side skirts, a larger rear wing, and a more sculpted rear bumper. The car can also be fitted with either 18- or 19-inch wheels. Inside you'll find heavily bolstered seats, blue buttons on the steering wheel for driving modes, blue stitching on the seats and trim, and aluminum pedals. Performance-wise, the i30 N should be pretty potent with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 271 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque. That's nearly 20 more horsepower than the Focus ST, and about 50 horsepower more than the GTI Sport. The Focus ST does have 10 more pound-feet of torque, and the GTI Sport roughly matches the twist output. The i30 N channels its power through a six-speed manual transmission and electronic limited-slip differential to the front wheels only. View 6 Photos To make the most of all this power, Hyundai bestowed an array of electronic aids. The sportier suspension features electronically adjustable shocks to improve ride or handling depending on preferences. An automatic rev matching system is included for flawless, smooth, quick downshifts. The i30 N also has a variable exhaust system for quiet cruising or loud hustling. All of the above features along with steering feel and stability control sensitivity can be adjusted by selecting one of the car's five driving modes: Eco, Normal, Sport, N, and N Custom. There's even a launch control function. Unfortunately, we won't be getting Hyundai's hot hatch here in America, despite the fact that we already have a version of the regular i30 in the form of the Elantra GT. But we know that Hyundai is working on an N version of the Veloster, and we expect that N car to make the trip Stateside. It will probably have the same engine found in the i30 N, just in a funkier body. And if it has the same engine, we wouldn't be surprised if it comes with most of the i30 N's handling upgrades and gizmos. Related Video: Hyundai Hatchback Economy Cars Performance hyundai elantra gt hyundai i30 Hyundai N

Solid-state batteries: Why Toyota's plans could be a game-changer for EVs

Word out of Japan today is that Toyota is working on launching a new solid-state battery for electric vehicles that will put it solidly in the EV game by 2022. Which leads to a simple question: What is a solid-state battery, and why does it matter? Back in February, John Goodenough observed, "Cost, safety, energy density, rates of charge and discharge and cycle life are critical for battery-driven cars to be more widely adopted." And risking a bad pun on his surname, he seemed to be implying that all of those characteristics weren't currently good enough in autos using lithium-ion batteries. This comment is relevant because Goodenough, professor at the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin - it so happens, he turns 95 today - is the co-inventor of the lithium-ion battery, the type of battery that is pretty much the mainstay of current electric vehicles. And he and a research fellow at U of T were announcing they'd developed a solid-state battery, one that has improved energy density (which means a car so equipped can drive further) and can be recharged more quickly and more often (a.k.a., "long cycle life") than a lithium-ion battery. (Did you ever notice that with time your iPhone keeps less of a charge than it did back when it was shiny and new? That's because it has a limited cycle life. Which is one thing when you're talking about a phone. And something else entirely when it involves a whole car.) What's more, there is reduced mass for a solid-state battery. And there isn't the same safety concern that exists with li-ion batteries vis-a- vis conflagration (which is why at airplane boarding gates they say they'll check your carryon as long as you remove all lithium-ion batteries). Lithium-ion batteries may be far more advanced than the lead-acid batteries that are under the hood of essentially every car that wasn't built in Fremont, Calif., but as is the case with those heavy black rectangles, li-ion batteries contain a liquid. In the lithium-ion battery, the liquid, the electrolyte, moves the lithium ions from the negative to the positive side (anode to cathode) of the battery. In a solid-state design, there is no liquid sloshing around, which also means that there's no liquid that would freeze at low operating temperatures. What Toyota is using for its solid-state battery is still unknown, as is the case for the solid-state batteries that Hyundai is reportedly working on for its EVs.

Hyundai reveals CEO's pay for first time ever

Thanks to some government pressure, Hyundai's billionaire chairman, Chung Mong Koo, has revealed just how much he gets paid each year. Honestly, the amount is a bit lower than we'd expect considering he helms such a huge industrial empire. The 76-year-old chairman brought home $13 million in 2013, $5.2 million of which came from Hyundai's automotive business while both Mobis and Hyundai Steel chipped in $3.94 million, each. For reference, Ford CEO Alan Mulally netted $23.2 million in 2013, although the vast majority of that money came from stock options.
The push for Chung to reveal his pay was part of a larger effort by the South Korean government called the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act. The act forces several thousand companies to release info on annual pay, bonuses and severance for employees earning over $5 million won ($469,000), according to Bloomberg.
"With the disclosure of the executives' compensation, the pressure to deliver better profits will increase," said Heo Pil Seok, the CEO of Midas International Asset Management. It seems to be working, as Hyundai shareholders, of which Midas is one, have seen their shares increase by 6.1 percent in 2014, which includes a 1.2-percent jump as of yesterday, according to Bloomberg.