LOS ALTOS, CA—Engineers at the Toyota Research Institute and Stanford University recently drifted two autonomous vehicles in tandem.

LINCOLN, NE—Engineers at the University of Nebraska recently conducted research to determine if currently used guardrails are prepared to handle the growing number of electric vehicles on America’s roads and highways.

MADISON, WI—Researchers from at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have designed a nanogenerator capable of deriving energy from the friction encountered by a car’s rolling tire.

CHATTANOOGA, TN—Volkswagen has begun the process of hiring 130 engineers and technicians to staff the automaker’s new R&D center here, which will be fully operational by 2017.

PLYMOUTH, MI—Chinese-backed developer Third Wave Group plans to open an automotive research and development center here.

DETROIT—Autonomous vehicles may be the biggest thing to hit the auto industry in a long time.

LAFAYETTE, IN—Automotive Robotics Proving Labs and Purdue University are planning to build a new, $10 million engine testing facility here.