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Child cobalt miners: Automakers pledge ethical minerals sourcing for EVs

BERLIN - Leading carmakers including Volkswagen and Toyota pledged on Wednesday to uphold ethical and socially responsible standards in their purchases of minerals for an expected boom in electric vehicle production. Demand for minerals such as cobalt, graphite and lithium is forecast to soar in the coming years as governments crack down on vehicle pollution and carmakers step up their investments in electric models. To cover its plans for more than 80 new models by 2025, Volkswagen alone is looking for partners in China, Europe and North America to provide battery cells and related technology worth more than 50 billion euros ($59 billion). Talks with major cobalt producers, including Glencore, at VW's Wolfsburg headquarters last week ended without a deal. More than half of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country racked by political instability and legal opacity, and where child labor is used in mines. On Wednesday, a group of 10 leading passenger-car and truck manufacturers announced an initiative to jointly identify and address ethical, environmental, human and labor rights issues in raw materials sourcing. The partnership dubbed "Drive Sustainability" consists of VW, Toyota Motor Europe, Ford, Daimler, BMW, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo Cars and truckmakers Scania and Volvo. The alliance "will assess the risks posed by the top raw materials (such as mica, cobalt, rubber and leather) in the automotive sector," said Stefan Crets of the CSR Europe business network. "This will allow Drive Sustainability to identify the most impactful activities to pursue" to address issues within the supply chain.Reporting by Andreas Cremer.Related Video: Image Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images Green BMW Ford Honda Jaguar Land Rover Mercedes-Benz Automakers Toyota Volkswagen Volvo Green Automakers Green Culture Electric Scania ethics mining

Freelander name making jump from old Land Rover model to new EV brand

The Jaguar Land Rover House of Brands is about to grow by one. JLR signed a Letter of Intent to license a new brand called Freelander to its Chinese joint-venture partner of 12 years, Chery. For those who missed it, Land Rover sold a compact four-wheel-drive model called the Freelander or LR2, depending on market and generation, from 1997 to 2015. The Freelander didn't get the best press, but that didn't stop it from being popular because, before the Evoque, it was the least expensive way to get into something bearing the green oval. The moniker's rebirth will also apply to "mainstream" products, this time pure-electric vehicles outside of JLR's or Chery's current lineups. What's more, the Freelander range won't be limited to China, although JLR wouldn't say how long it would be before international markets could expect Freelander arrival.  They new cars will be designed by teams from both automakers and sit on Chery's E0X battery-electric architecture. Car News China reports that the E0X can support an 800-volt architecture, Level 3 autonomous driving, and air suspension setups. The platform also plays nice with range-extended EVs, a powertrain type enjoying the same upswing in popularity over there as in other markets. Autocar writes that extended-range EV sales from January 2023 to September 2023 rose 157% over the same span in 2022. Chery's Luxeed R7, above, sits on E0X bones. The Luxeed R7 EV comes in single- and dual-motor variants from 288 horsepower to 489 hp, and offers a maximum range of 531 miles on the Chinese cycle. Previous to this new announcement, Chery said it would also share its M3X platform with the Chery Jaguar Land Rover collaboration, the vehicle structure said to have been developed with Magna International. The M3X is suited to internal combustion and PHEV powertrains. JLR's press release specifies that for now, Freelander will be "an advanced portfolio of electric vehicles," so it's possible future Freelanders will expand powertrain options once the electric lineup gains momentum, or the M3X might be applied to a different set of products.

Honda, Hyundai top car residual value / depreciation awards list

J.D. Power announced its 2022 U.S. ALG Residual Value awards Thursday, with Honda and Hyundai topping the charts at three models apiece in the industry-standard study. The term "residual" is an industry projection of how well a car will hold its resale value three years from the original purchase date – a key metric in calculating lease costs and projecting new-car depreciation.  Award winners included several enthusiast-friendly options, including the BMW 2 Series, Dodge Charger, Subaru WRX, Mercedes-AMG GT and Toyota Tacoma. Even the Ford Bronco was recognized, beating out the Jeep Wrangler in the Off-Road Utility segment. That may seem odd given the car's issue-plagued launch, but scarcity apparently trumps quality control issues over the longer term. Here's a scrolling complete list of winners broken down by segment: “Accurately forecasting residual values in the auto industry is a key factor in assessing an estimated $225 billion lease portfolio of vehicles in the United States,” said ALG VP Eric Lyman in the company's announcement. "The brands and vehicle models that rise to the top demonstrate that they score well across the award programÂ’s criteria, including manufacturersÂ’ superior design and quality." ALG looks at several factors to determine future value, which is especially tricky with new models. For 2022, 16 different brands were recognized across 29 segments. Behind Honda and Hyundai, Audi, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover and Subaru all managed to chart with two different models. Here's the rundown of those who won in more than one category: Honda Civic Honda Passport Honda Odyssey Hyundai Accent Hyundai Kona Hyundai Kona EV Audi A6 Allroad Audi Q3 Kia K5 Kia Telluride Land Rover Range Rover Velar Land Rover Discovery Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Mercedes-Benz Metris:  Subaru  WRX and  Subaru Forester Toyota Tacoma  Toyota Tundra "The award process consists of evaluating 284 models through analysis of used-vehicle performance, brand outlook and product competitiveness," the announcement said. "Eligibility for a brand award requires a manufacturer to have model entries in at least four different segments. To account for differences across trim levels, model averages are weighted based on percentage share relative to the entire model line."   Audi Honda Hyundai Kia Land Rover Mercedes-Benz Subaru Toyota