Both General Motors and BMW plan to test devices next year that will convert an engines excess heat into electricity. Research into thermoelectrics, the science of using temperature differences to create electricity, couldn't come at a better time as high gas prices accelerate efforts to make vehicles as efficient as possible. GM researcher Jihui Yang said a metal-plated device that surrounds an exhaust pipe could increase fuel economy in a Chevrolet Suburban by about 5 percent, a (...)

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