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Recharge Wrap-up: New Mitsubishi Evo PHEV, Amsterdam buses go all electric by 2025

Mitsubishi hopes to launch a new vehicle badged as the Evo based on the Concept XR-PHEV II. Mitsubishi President and COO Tetsuro Aikawa tells Autocar the new vehicle will share characteristics with the outgoing Lancer Evolution loved by enthusiasts, but will feature a plug-in hybrid powertrain in the body of a compact crossover. "In Japanese, when you pronounce 'Oh,' it means 'king,'" says Aikawa. "So we would like to launch this type of car, featuring EV and PHEV technology, which is the ultimate of its kind. 'EV' for electric vehicle, 'O' for king - Evo." The Mitsu boss also envisions the four-wheel-drive Evo to be "light and fast - something performance-oriented." Read more at Autocar, or at Hybrid Cars. Amsterdam aims to have all its buses running on electric power by 2025. Within two years, the city will have 40 electric buses in operation, and will phase out the rest of the diesel fleet in the following years. "This project means we are saying goodbye to symbolic behavior and pilot projects," says transport alderman Abdeluheb Choho. "We have decided to just do it, not to experiment with five buses." Read more at Clean Technica. BMW and General Motors are both listed in the top five US organizations generating and using green energy onsite. In an EPA list, BMW's Spartanburg, South Carolina manufacturing facility is number four, with credit going to its use of landfill gas. In 2013, 69,383,477 kWh - or 37 percent of its total usage - came from green energy. GM's Fort Wayne Assembly was number five, with 43 percent of its power coming from methane from a nearby landfill. Volkwsagen also made the Top 30 list, at number 15, for its Chattanooga assembly plant's use of solar power. See the EPA's full list, and read more at Green Car Congress. Volkswagen will release its 2014 sustainability report on Twitter on Monday, May 4. It will be the first step in using the social medium to distribute information on economic, environmental and social sustainability to a larger audience. The report will include a section called "Electrifying China with a tailor-made efficiency strategy," which focuses on reducing CO2 emissions through the use of electric vehicles. Volkswagen has already begun releasing highlights from its report on its Twitter account with the hashtag #VWCSR. Read more in the press release below and, of course, on Twitter next week.

BMW i8 pitted against M4 in sibling rivalry track battle

We recently watched Auto Bild challenge the BMW i8 against the M4 in a German drag race of decide the quicker of the inter-brand rivals. The hybrid took a commanding victory in that fight. However, Autocar now has a new battle for the two coupes. The siblings are together again on the Castle Combe Circuit to find out which of them offers the more enjoyable experience at the track. Unfortunately, we don't ever get a perfect point of comparison in the video because host Steve Sutcliffe never does a full lap in anger with either of them to set a time. Instead, he focuses more on how the BMWs feel behind the wheel. Sutcliffe also admits midway through the clip that the i8's electric motor is out of juice to power the front axle's electric motor. That only leaves the hybrid with its 228-horsepower and 236-pound-feet-of-torque turbocharged three-cylinder to spin the rear wheels. Still, Sutcliffe spends ample time explaining the benefits and downfalls of driving these coupes. See where his opinion falls between the M4 as the traditional German sports coupe and the i8 as the new-school hybrid in the video, above.

Jonas wreaks havoc on auto industry

Many folks along the East Coast are still stuck at home from Winter Storm Jonas' brutal snowfall over the weekend, but the blizzard had some nasty temporary effects on the auto industry, too. Winter weather emergencies kept people from leaving the house, and that spelled trouble for factories and dealers. The terrible conditions in Washington, DC, even prevented the the Washington Auto Show from opening. General Motors, Toyota, and BMW had to close factories due to the weather. BMW cited concerns for its workers driving to the plant for canceling some Friday and Saturday shifts in Spartanburg, SC, according to Automotive News. Toyota closed its Georgetown, KY, factory on Friday, and GM shut down the second shift at its Bowling Green, KY, site for that day, too. Showrooms in the blizzard's path saw a massive drop in sales over the weekend because the customers weren't coming. Some affected dealers are now trying to make the best of a bad situation by offering potential buyers even deeper discounts to get them through the door, according to Automotive News. The piles of snow also mean hours of work for employees to clean off all the cars on the lot. The good news is that none of these issues should pose longterm problems. Weather reports don't show much snow for the East Coast in the coming days, which should allow the industry quickly to return to normal.