Canadian-based Tier 1 supplier Magna is working hard on electrically driven componentry designed to replace today’s conventional all-wheel-drive and 4-wheel-drive hardware. Fully 70%of its engineering projects these days are related to the battery-electric-vehicle market. “Anyone who is in powertrain has to be thinking about transitioning toward eDrives,” says CEO Swamy Kotagiri.

The Tactile Mobility system will detect even very slight initial runover of virtually anything, including a soft human body part, and provide a warning and/or a full vehicle stop to prevent further runover, which could be life-saving.

Boasting an eye-popping 184 hp/L, Volvo’s turbocharged and supercharged 4-cyl. Polestar started life as a racing engine before it found its way into family haulers.

Mazda’s Skyactiv-G 2.5T is unique in that its enhanced scavenging technology and cooled EGR make it a new type of downsized turbocharged engine that performs like a torquey V-6.

“The main reason why we have kept the inline 6-cyl. is there is no other way to have the smoothness or the responsiveness, the turbine-like feeling when revving the engine,” says Markus Rülicke, BMW’s head of construction design for in-line petrol engines.

“The key was to be better in every measurable way,” says GM Global Vehicle Chief Engineer Barry Walkup.