2014 Hyundai Elantra Limited on 2040-cars

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WRC driver fills radiator with beer from sponsor Corona

Rallying requires lightning quick reflexes and the ability to turn off one's sense of self-preservation. This much is not in doubt. Anyone that's ever seen a rally car hurtle along a tree-lined spit of dirt road at high speeds could tell you that. What many people don't know is that it also requires a strong mechanical sense. Knowing how to repair one's car when far from the service garages is a must. A strong sense of ingenuity is pretty handy, as well.
It was that sense of ingenuity that came to the aid of Thierry Neuville (shown above during last weekend's Rally Mexico), a WRC driver for the Hyundai Motorsport team, after his i20 suffered a radiator leak during the drive back to service. Neuville and his co-driver, Nicolas Gilsoul, hopped out of the car, assessed the issue and realized they needed to patch the radiator leak and refill the coolant, which they were fresh out of. So, instead, they used beer.
The pair had been awarded a magnum-sized bottle of Corona from the Rally Mexico's corporate sponsor after the final power stage. As Neuville doesn't drink, they tossed the beer in the back of the i20 and set off for the garages. It was a good thing they did, as adding the Mexican lager to the car's system allowed them to limp back to service.

Recharge Wrap-up: Hyundai H350 Fuel Cell van, Formula E in Brooklyn

Formula E's New York City e-Prix will take place in Brooklyn. With lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty as its backdrop, the race will play out on a 1.21-mile, 13-turn course on the streets of Red Hook. Formula E revealed the location at a press conference at the site of the circuit, at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on the New York Harbor. "New York City is where technology, sustainability and commerce collide," says NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio. "We are thrilled to be the new home of the ePrix." The race is scheduled for July 29, 2017. Watch the video above, and read more from Formula E. Hyundai is debuting its H350 Fuel Cell Concept at the 2016 IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Hannover, Germany. The hydrogen-powered commercial van offers emissions-free (except for water vapor) driving without the lengthy recharge times of a plug-in vehicle. It has a driving range of 262 miles on a single tank, and refuels in just minutes. It can be configured with a cargo area of up to 456 cubic feet, or with seating for 14 passengers. Hyundai's fuel cell van concept draws from the automaker's experience with the Tucson Fuel Cell production vehicle. Read more from Hyundai. Mercedes-Benz says it will offer an electric delivery van again in 2018. The German automaker left the niche market in 2012 after slow sales of its Vito E-Cell, which it launched in 2010. "The future of urban deliveries will be electric," says Volker Mornhinweg, head of the company's vans division. "We at Mercedes-Benz Vans are convinced of this." While Mercedes has not said whether the EV will be a new model or an electric version of a current offering, it did say it would develop the powertrain in-house, and offer various battery capacities. Read more at Automotive News Europe. Related Gallery Mercedes-Benz Vito E-Cell View 16 Photos News Source: YouTube: FIA Formula E Championship, Formula E, Hyundai, Automotive News Europe Green Motorsports Hyundai Mercedes-Benz Minivan/Van Commercial Vehicles Electric Videos recharge wrapup

IIHS Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards get tougher: Here are the latest winners

Automakers love to trumpet the accolades from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, but the agency keeps making its best grades harder to achieve. For 2020, it is raising the bar again, requiring a better score in the passenger-side small-overlap crash test, wider availability of top-performing headlights, and automatic emergency braking systems that effectively avoid collisions with pedestrians, in addition to its previous benchmarks. Why the 2020 criteria is harder: To be named either a Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+, the required performance in the passenger-side small-overlap crash test has been raised from Acceptable to Good, meaning that the model must achieve Good ratings in all crash tests. The Nissan Rogue, for example, scored an Acceptable in the passenger-side small overlap crash, and so it loses its Top Safety Pick rating for 2020. To achieve either of the top ratings, a vehicle's automatic emergency braking system must effectively avoid hitting pedestrians as well as other vehicles. (The automatic emergency braking system can be optional, but then the award applies to the model only when so equipped.) Any vehicle whose automatic emergency braking system does not include pedestrian detection would lose its TSP or TSP+ rating for 2020, the Ram 1500 being one example. To be named a Top Safety Pick+, the model can have no variant with headlights that achieve less than an Acceptable rating (most new cars have different headlights — often LEDs — that are exclusive to upper trim levels).