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Recharge Wrap-up: VW Caddy TGI BlueMotion, VR tour of Tesla Model X

Take a 360-degree virtual tour of the Tesla Model X. Best viewed in the YouTube app on your smartphone, the video above - courtesy of Canadian Press Video News – allows you to look around the inside of the Model X as though you were sitting inside it. While you're viewing it, keep in mind Tesla CEO Elon Musk's words about virtual reality: "It's quite transformative. You really feel like you're there." See the video above, and read more at Teslarati. LG Chem's batteries for the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan will be the Korean company's first time engineering and manufacturing a complete battery pack in Michigan for a volume production North American plug-in hybrid. The packs include lithium-ion cells, electronics and control units. The batteries were engineered at LG Chem's Troy, Michigan facility, and will be built at the company's Holland, Michigan plant. "Our experience with entire battery packs, including cell design and manufacturing capability, as well as our expertise in vehicle integration, makes us the ideal battery supplier for the Pacifica Hybrid," says LGCPI CEO Denise Gray. "We believe our technical strengths, engineering and manufacturing expertise, position us as a leading battery and control system provider for electric vehicles today and in the future." Read more at Green Car Congress. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles will debut its Caddy TGI BlueMotion van at the Geneva Motor Show. The van, which is suited to family, taxi or city delivery use, can run on CNG or bio-natural gas in addition to gasoline. It also features a six-speed DSG dual-clutch transmission – a first in its class. The multiple high-pressure tanks for compressed gas are located under the floor, preserving all the Caddy's precious cargo space. A TGI version of the Caddy Alltrack will also be available, initially with a six-speed manual transmission, with the DSG option arriving in the middle of 2016. Read more at Green Car Congress, and in the press release below.

New Jersey will let Tesla continue selling EVs until April 15

Tesla sales in New Jersey were supposed to end today, following the state legislature vote a few weeks ago to pull Tesla's sales license there. At the eleventh hour, though, Gov. Chris Christie's administration has extended the deadline to April 15. The specifics of the situation are that the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) is going to give new car dealers until the middle of the month to submit their franchise agreement (which, of course, Tesla stores don't have). That means, for now, it's business as usual The two-week extension could keep Tesla alive in the Garden State. While it's only a two-week extension, it could be enough to keep the California automaker alive in the Garden State. This is because state assemblyman Tim Eustace (a Democrat and EV driver) submitted a bill the other day that would allow Tesla to sell cars directly to customers in New Jersey. One interesting component of Eustace's bill is that it only applies to zero-emission vehicles as long as they make up less than four percent of all the new cars sold in the state. Eustace told NJ.com that this bill might be fast-tracked into law because it has leadership support. Jim Appleton, the president of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailer (the force behind the anti-Tesla movement), said, "to the extent that there is legislation that would allow an all-zero emission vehicle automaker to enter the market for a period of time without franchises, before they eventually convert to a franchise system, it makes sense." You can read the proposed bill here. The MVC gave Tesla a license to sell cars in 2012 and Tesla now operates two stores in New Jersey, one in the Garden State Plaza in Paramus and the other in Short Hills.

Tesla completes cross-country Supercharger drive in Model S EVs

It wasn't without problems, but Tesla's record-setting electric drive attempt has crossed the finish line. The pair of Tesla Model S EVs that left Los Angeles late last week has made it to New York City using nothing but Supercharger power. Last week, Tesla said the cars would be trying to set a Guinness World Record prize for the "lowest charge time for an electric vehicle traveling across the United States." According to Tesla, the Guinness team is now looking at the data to assess if that record was actually set. We don't know how much time was spent charging during the drive, but Tesla said that the two cars each put on 3,464.5 miles and used a total of 1,197.8 kWh. The entire drive took 76.5 hours. Tesla CEO Elon Musk told CBS that the trip was an "important, historic milestone." The weather wasn't exactly forgiving during that time, but the 15-person team made it safely to NYC in the early morning hours yesterday. The biggest problem was when one vehicle broke down near Mitchell, SD. Fortunately for the record attempt, it was not one of the Model S EVs, but one of the gas-powered support vehicles. This hampered the rotation system the drivers had: eight-hour drive shifts, eight-hour navigator shifts, eight-hour sleep shifts in one of two support vans. Tesla quickly bought plane tickets for the drivers left behind, and you can read details about this and more in the official blog posts here. Related Gallery Tesla Supercharger News Source: Tesla Motors, CBS Green Tesla Electric