2012 Honda Ex Sedan on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: First VW e-Golf in US up for auction, meet Project Ain't Fuelin'

Volkswagen is auctioning the first e-Golf in the US to raise money for Global Green USA. The auction is live now, and bidding goes until 3:30 pm Eastern on October 29. Global Green USA will use the proceeds to help find solutions to climate change, and the winner will get to enjoy emissions-free driving before the car e-Golf goes on sale in November. If you don't live in or near California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont or Washington DC, you might want to sit this one out, as the car will only be available to pick up at dealers in those initial launch states. Go bid now, or learn more in the press release below. Berlin, Germany will use Solaris electric buses for a complete bus line in 2015. The downtown line will run 3.8 miles between Zoologischer Garten Station and Sudkreuz. The transport operator Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) will use four of the Solaris e-buses for the test, each about 39 feet long. The buses use a 200-kilowatt inductive charging system at the ends of the line to recharge in just a few minutes. The government-funded test runs through 2016, but BVG pans to use the electric buses beyond that timeline. Read more at Green Car Congress. The American Petroleum Institute (API) is worried that the Obama administration will use ethanol requirements to influence a Senate race in Iowa. In the midst of a close race against Republican Joni Ernst, Representative Bruce Braley, the Democratic candidate, is urging Obama to reject a cut in the Renewable Fuel Standard. The November election approaches, meanwhile the EPA continues to delay issuing an ethanol requirement for the year, with or without its proposed 16-percent reduction. Rejecting the cut could help get farmers and ethanol producers on the side of Braley. "We are very concerned that the signals we are seeing from the administration is that the political calculations are outweighing sound fuels policy," says API's Bob Greco. Read more at Businessweek. Project Ain't Fuelin' aims to fix up old cars to return them to original fuel economy, and then surpass it. Episode 3 of Valvoline's Under The Hood video series features Daniel Gray of MPGomatic, who is doing just that to a 1999 Honda Civic HX Coupe. He aims to get 50 mpg out of the old Civic by tuning it up, tinkering with the aerodynamics, switching to more efficient tires and other modifications.

Honda CEO carless, waiting on Civic Type R

As chief executive of Honda, Takahiro Hachigo could get his hands on anything the automaker produces, or has produced: a new Acura RLX luxury sedan, a luxed-out Odyssey minivan, a top-of-the-line CBR sport bike... even an old NSX supercar. Heck, he could probably even get the skunkworks to cook him up a road-going version of the ten-cylinder HSV-010 that was supposed to be the new NSX but only ever ended up racing in Super GT. So what does he drive? "Unfortunately, I don't have a car now," Hachigo-san revealed to journalists during a roundtable discussion in Tokyo. That situation won't last forever, though: "There is a model I want, which will, as I have told you, be launched this autumn," said Hachigo. "I want to buy the Civic Type R." The Honda chief is referring, of course, to the company's new hot hatch that will be produced in the UK and exported around the world, including back to Japan. It's got a 2.0-liter turbo four pumping out 306 horsepower to send it to 60 in 5.7 seconds, making it one of the fastest and most powerful hatchbacks ever devised. And more than anything else the company makes, that's what Hachigo wants for himself. The news should be welcomed by performance enthusiasts who may have been concerned about the future of Honda's performance models. The company has a slew of them coming out, including the new NSX and Civic Type R, and may even produce another sports car to slot in between. Those, however, were spearheaded under the administration of Hachigo's predecessor, Takanobu Ito. But if Hachigo's stated driving preferences are anything to go by, he's got some high octane pumping through his veins as well. Until the Civic Type R starts arriving in Japan, though, Hachigo's garage will have an empty space in it, filled only by his wife's N-One kei car and his own VTR 250 motorcycle. We're sure his chauffeur has him well taken care of, though, in the back of an RLX or whatever else the company sends to pick up its new chief executive. Related Video:

Alonso pins McLaren's woes squarely on Honda's shoulders

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Fernando Alonso spent more time on the tennis court than driving his ailing McLaren on Friday, with his tilt at the Indy 500 looking ever more inviting after another dark day on the Formula One racetrack. Alonso's home fans had barely settled in their seats for practice at the Spanish Grand Prix before his car's Honda engine blew in a mess of smoke and oil. Liquid then poured out of the car as it was tipped up by a recovery crane. Having failed to start in Russia two weeks ago due to an engine failure on the formation lap, Alonso departed the Barcelona circuit after a few choice words and later posted a picture on Instagram of himself playing tennis. "The engine was not good enough. We came out of the pitlane and there was a hole in the engine, and the oil was streaming out. It blew up after 400 meters," Alonso told reporters after returning for the second 90-minute practice session. He was last on the timesheets and reported that the engine was even slower. If the tennis photo looked like a dig at Honda, accompanied with the seemingly sarcastic comment "keeping the body active", he said that had not been his intention. "I have very little time in these weeks, with traveling, with planes," said the 35-year-old, who will go straight from Barcelona to Indianapolis on Sunday night to prepare for his debut in the 500 on May 28. "So when I discovered that I had two hours free, instead of being on the sofa and watching television, I went for some training. My dedication is still 100 percent to my fitness and my preparation. "It wasn't humor to go outside the circuit to play tennis, it was preparation. People got it wrong. I went out to have some fun and escape the circuit." McLaren, the second most successful team in Formula One history in terms of race wins, have yet to score a point in four rounds of this year's championship and are last in the standings. Honda's Formula One reputation, after two seasons of unreliability and poor performance, is meanwhile being dragged deeper into the mud. Alonso is out of contract at the end of the season and has said his future whereabouts would depend on who could offer him a winning car. "It's not my reputation, it's theirs (Honda's) – and it's their money, and their image," he said. "I try to drive as fast as I can but it's a much bigger problem for them." (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by John Stonestreet) Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party.