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Miles to date: 21,281inline_mediumwraptextright25873859/reviews/12_month_car_reviews/0911_2009_honda_fit_sport_november_update0911_04_z+2009_honda_fit_sport+front_three_quarter_view.jpgTrue

Following decades of research and a lengthy apprenticeship energizing our cell phones, laptops, and power tools, lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries have begun closing the gap between today's petroleum-fueled transportation and the electric cars of the future. Acknowledging this milestone on the road to more efficient automobiles, the Li-ion battery is Automobile Magazine's 2010 Technology of the Year.

A year ago, when the heads of Detroit's Big Three - GM's Rick Wagoner, Ford's Alan Mulally, and Chrysler's Bob Nardelli - appeared in the infamous Capitol Hill bailout hearings, many lawmakers, and many Americans, decided that this trio from the industrial heartland could all be tarred with the bad-CEO brush. There was a telling moment, during a discussion about executive compensation, when the three CEOs were asked if they were willing to work for a dollar a year.

Yes, the VW GTI is our Automobile of the Year. Again. The last-generation car got the nod only three years ago and now its successor, the sixth-generation GTI, walks away with the trophy as well. How is it that, for the first time since we started naming an Automobile of the Year exactly twenty years ago, we have deemed a single make and model vehicle worthy of our top award not once, but twice? It's very simple. Because the Volkswagen GTI continues to burn the affordable-enthusiast-car flame like no other vehicle in the world. Because the new, Mark 6 GTI, although only a mild update to the Mark 5 GTI, made a good thing even better. Because, as we pointed out in our February 2007 issue, the GTI is "the right car for our times. Hell, it's the right car for any time." And because, as we also stated three years ago, "what the world really needs now is not cars that are fast, but cars that are practical, fuel-efficient, and fast." Not to mention affordable and fun. The 2010 VW GTI is all this, and more.inline_mediumwraptextright31239771/features/awards/1001_2010_automobile_of_the_year_2010_volkswagen_gti1001_01_z+2010_volkswagen_gTI+front_three_quarter_view.jpgTrue

Funky, fun, and futuristic.inline_mediumwraptextright27042880/features/awards/1001_2010_design_of_the_year_2010_nissan_cube1001_02_z+2010_nissan_cube+front_view.jpgTrue

All I want to know is how BMW can take such a huge, heavy vehicle and make it so responsive. The twin-turbo V-8 doesn't feel this impressive in our Four Seasons 750Li, even though it's the exact same engine in both applications. I suppose partial credit goes to the superadvanced differential, which can seemingly make its own traction and alter other laws of physics. Whatever it is, this thing works very well. Even if it makes no sense.inline_mediumwraptextright25802606/reviews/editors_notebook/0911_2009_bmw_x6_xdrive50i0911_09_z+2009_bMW_x6_xDrive50i+side_view.jpgTrue