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Recharge Wrap-up: Audi R18 e-tron Quattro wins WEC opener, Toyota Mirai goes to DC

The Audi R18 e-tron Quattro has won the World Endurance Championship season opener at Silverstone. Drivers Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer piloted the number 7 hybrid racecar to a hard-fought win in the six-hour UK race. "This victory is a dream start of the season and a great reward for the whole squad for the hard work last winter," says Audi Motorsport boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, congratulating the team. Audi's second R18 took fifth place in the race after a couple of unscheduled pit stops ate up precious time. Read more in the press release from Audi, below. Mini and Spanish designer Jaime Hayon are presenting new versions of the Mini Citysurfer electric scooter concept at Salone del Mobile in Milan, Italy. The installation, called "Urban Perspectives" depicts an idea of the future of urban mobility. The imaginary living space houses two examples of the Citysurfer concept designed by Hayon. The first is painted to resemble blue and while porcelain, with dots and stripes to give it an upbeat look. The second uses more upscale materials like anodized metal, copper and leather to blend modern and classical elements. The foldable Citysurfer scooter can travel 10 to 15 miles on a charge, and is designed fit and charge inside the trunk of a Mini Cooper. Read more from Mini. Tesla has announced the locations of its first Superchargers in Australia. It will install eight charging booths at the Goulburn Visitor's Centre, about 120 miles southwest of Sydney. The Goulburn superchargers will be powered by renewable energy. Tesla plans to install a network of Superchargers in cities along the route connecting the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane south to Melbourne. Read more at Clean Technica. The Toyota Mirai will be on display at the National Mall in Washington DC to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Earth Day. Toyota is a sponsor of Global Citizen 2015 Earth Day from April 17 to 19, which will include speakers, musical performances and, of course, Toyota's new hydrogen fuel cell car. "Earth Day 2015 is a great platform to educate the public about hydrogen fuel cell technology and the potential of hydrogen as a future fuel," says Toyota's Bob Carter. Also in April, Toyota will continue to enlighten the public about the Mirai and hydrogen technology in Union Square Park in New York on April 19, and at Waterkeeper Alliance's "Keep it Clean" comedy event in Los Angeles on April 22. Read more from Toyota.

Analyst slashes Tesla sales forecast by 40% due to fuel prices

While falling gas prices are cause for celebration among Americans, many of whom are seeing their budget for Christmas presents burgeon on account of the cheap fuel, it's decidedly bad news for Tesla Motors. The electric car manufacturer's fortunes are being seriously impacted by the low cost of petrol, with one of the firm's biggest fans on Wall Street, Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas, now slashing his expectations for the Palo Alto, CA-based company. Jonas has a long record of being bullish on the brand, but that hasn't stopped him from lowering his forecast for the company by a whopping 40 percent. In other words, Jonas thinks Tesla will only be able to sell 300,000 vehicles by the end of the decade rather than the half a million that was originally forecast. "While nobody buying a Model S today is doing so to save on their monthly expenses, the longer-term story is far more dependent on the volume success of the Model 3," Jonas wrote, according to CNN Money. "Oil price is a factor for Model 3." Gas prices might not be the only factor that could hurt the Model 3, though. Jonas seems to think that Tesla won't be able to sell its more affordable model for anything less than $60,000, which is a far cry from the $35,000 price that the company has targeted. Jonas doesn't elaborate on why Tesla might miss its target so drastically, but it does help to explain his bearish attitude – if gas prices remain low, there's not really any incentive for customers to join the Tesla family. That's doubly true when the cost of joining said family is twice as much as expected.

Recharge Wrap-up: Nissan, Tesla report CO2 savings, rare earth metal recycling simplified

A new process simplifies the recycling of rare earth metals. While the strong magnetic properties of metals like neodymium and dysprosium make them useful in electric vehicles traction motors, there are concerns about their availability and the environmental costs of mining them. Researchers at University of Pennsylvania have developed an easier method to recycle those metals that is less energy intensive and more cost effective. "We have designed a way to separate the two metals by selectively dissolving the neodymium in a solution and leaving behind the dysprosium as a solid," says Justin Bogart, a graduate student working on the project. "This quick and easy method has allowed us to separate equal mixtures of the metals into samples that are 95 percent pure." Now the team is working to improve that level of purity. Read more from University of Pennsylvania. Nissan Leaf drivers in Europe have saved over 55,000 tons of CO2 emissions. Worldwide, the 178,074 Leafs sold account for the prevention of over 293,000 tons of CO2 emissions so far. That equates that to the neutralizing effect of 19 million trees. Besides the positive effects on environmental and noise pollution that switching to electric mobility provides, Nissan also points out that it's good business, too. EVs like the Nissan Leaf and e-NV200 cost about 40 percent less than combustion vehicles to maintain, and the cost of electricity is substantially lower than that of fossil fuels. Additionally, Nissan has published a video of the Leaf touring Bristol to celebrate the greening of European cities with the help of electric vehicles. See the video, and read more from Nissan. Tesla customers have driven a cumulative 1 billion miles. Together, nearly 75,000 Model S drivers have prevented more than 570,000 tons of CO2 emissions worldwide. To put that in perspective, a billion miles is the equivalent of 4,186 trips to the moon, and almost 40,000 trips around the Earth. In the UK, where the Model S is celebrating its one-year anniversary, drivers have already accumulated 6.6 million miles. Tesla is celebrating its milestone with the Next Billion Miles Tour, hosting hands-on events and test drives in 80 cities across North America, Europe and Asia. See the video from Tesla above, visit the One Billion Miles microsite and read more in the press release below.