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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.

Zombie cars: A dozen discontinued vehicles people still buy new

Car models come and go, but as revealed by monthly sales data, once a car is discontinued, it doesn't just disappear instantly. And in the case of some models, vanishing into obscurity can be a slow, tedious process. That's the case with the 12 cars we have here. All of them have been discontinued, but car companies keep racking up "new" sales with them. There are actually more discontinued cars that are still registering new sales than what we decided to include here. We kept this list to the oldest or otherwise most interesting vehicles still being sold as new, including a supercar. We'll run the list in alphabetical order, starting with *drumroll* ... BMW 6 Series: 55 total sales BMW quietly removed the 6 Series from the U.S. market during the 2019 model year. It had been available in three configurations, a hardtop coupe, a convertible and a sleek four-door coupe-like shape.   BMW i8: 18 total sales We've always had a soft spot for the BMW i8, despite the fact that it never quite fit into a particular category. It was sporty, but nowhere near as fast as similarly-priced competitors. It looked very high-tech and boasted a unique carbon fiber chassis design and a plug-in hybrid powertrain, but wasn't really designed for maximum efficiency or maximum performance. Still, the in-betweener was very cool to look at and drive, and 18 buyers took one home over the course of 2021.   Chevy Impala: 750 total sales The Impala represented classic American tastes at a time when American tastes were shifting away from soft-riding sedans with big interior room and trunk space and into higher-riding crossovers. A total of 750 sales were inked last year.   Chrysler 200: 15 total sales The Chrysler 200 was actually a pretty nice sedan, with good looks and decent driving dynamics let down by a lack of roominess, particularly in the back seat. Of course, as we said regarding the Chevy Impala, the number of Americans in the market for sedans is rapidly winding down, and other automakers are following Chrysler's footsteps in canceling their slow-selling four-doors. Even if Chrysler never really found its footing in the ultra-competitive midsize sedan segment, apparently dealerships have a few leftover 2017 200s floating around. And for some reason, 15 buyers decided to sign the dotted line to take one of these aging sedans home last year.

BMW teases 3.0 CSL Hommage concept

If you're a fan of the Batmobile (no, not that Batmobile), we've got good news for you. BMW is building a concept that pays tribute to the original 3.0 CSL, and it's being unveiled at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este on May 22. Judging by the teaser image pictured here, it's going to be hot. According to BMW, the Hommage concept "is a nod to the engineering achievement exemplified by the BMW 3.0 CSL in its lightweight design and performance." Furthermore, the automaker says this concept will have "striking air deflectors, powerful wheel arches and a prominent roof and rear spoiler." The main focus of the car is lightness, and BMW trumpets the use of weight-saving materials both inside the cabin, as well as throughout the bodywork. That's all we know right now, but we expect good things. After all, BMW stunned us with its M1 Hommage concept a few years ago. Here's hoping the iconic CSL's throwback is just as good. BMW 3.0 CSL HOMMAGE. MOTOR SPORT WITH AN ELEGANT CHARACTER. Munich/Cernobbio. On 22 May 2015, the BMW Group will unveil the new BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage to the global public for the first time at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. This model is the BMW Design Team's tribute to the BMW 3.0 CSL, a timeless classic and iconic BMW Coupe from the 1970s. The BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage is a nod to the engineering achievement exemplified by the BMW 3.0 CSL in its lightweight design and performance. The Hommage draws on the character of the earlier model and endows it with cutting-edge materials to translate it into the present in a new and exciting guise. Exclusive, confident, athletic: the exterior design. The design of the BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage exudes sheer dynamics, with the body framed by striking air deflectors, powerful wheel arches and a prominent roof and rear spoiler. The stretched flanks serve as an elegant counterpoint to the distinctly sporty front and rear end. Subtle and finely sculpted surfaces convey dynamics and exclusivity, while the extensive use of carbon fibre for the lower section highlights the car's systematic lightweight design concept. Elegant purism: the interior design. The rigorously pared-down interior of the BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage renders its lightweight concept not only visible but tangible as well. All the elements in the cabin are absolutely essential and each constituent has a high-quality structural or driving-related function.