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Recharge Wrap-up: Volkswagen Sustainability Council meets, Zee.Aero flying car spotted?

The Volkswagen Sustainability Council held its inaugural meeting in Berlin. Made up of nine international experts, the council will advise VW and take action on its own as it sees fit. In the meeting, the council decided that in 2017 it will focus on tackling CO2 emissions, planning for post-2025 regulations, and assisting the automaker's "transformation from car manufacturer to mobility services provider," as VW Chairman Matthias Muller puts it. Volkswagen has approved 20 million euros (about $21.75 million) in funding for Sustainability Council projects for its first two years. "We are fully aware of the large transformation that lays ahead Volkswagen Group," says George Kell, Sustainability Council Chair and Founding Director of UN Global Compact. "We were invited to be part of this journey and are very much looking forward on being actively involved in the development of this journey." Read more at Green Car Congress, or from Volkswagen. Honda plans to ramp up its share of hybrids sold in the US. In response to increasingly strict emissions standards, the company wants electrified vehicles (including hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery electric, and fuel cell vehicles) to make up two-thirds of Honda and Acura sales in US by 2030. Some analysts are skeptical, though. Christopher Richter of CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets says that dealers are telling Honda they don't want hybrids. "Unless there's a change in what dealers want, I don't think they are going to get there that fast," Richter says. Read more at Automotive News. Witnesses report spotting what could possibly be the Zee.Aero electric aircraft at Hollister Airport in California. Zee.Aero, a startup funded by Google cofounder Larry Page, has a hangar at that airport, where a photo was taken of the aircraft in question. The craft is said to be capable of vertical takeoff and landing and can fit in a one-car garage, earning it the "flying car" moniker. Eyewitness Saul Gomez described the aircraft as "quiet" and "hovering 20, 25 feet off the ground." Read more at Electrek, and watch the interview at Mercury News. Related Gallery 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid: First Drive View 26 Photos News Source: Green Car Congress, Volkswagen, Automotive News, Electrek, Mercury NewsImage Credit: Copyright 2016 Sebastian Blanco / AOL Auto News Green Acura Honda Volkswagen Green Automakers Electric Hybrid recharge wrapup

Volkswagen showcasing latest emergency vehicles at RETTmobil

RETTmobil may not be the top show on our calendars, but it's the top destination for police and emergency vehicles in Europe. The show opens this week in Fulda, Germany, and Volkswagen has revealed some of the vehicles it'll be presenting to first responders there this year. Leading the charge will be the new Golf Alltrack that has been set up specially as a command car, with special lighting, graphics and equipment like an accident data recorder and unique control panel. It'll be joined as well by specially equipped versions of the Passat, Tiguan and Touareg. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles will also be on hand to showcase an Amarok pickup set up as a beach patrol car (you know, just in case Hasselhoff happens to be in town for the show), as well as a Transporter T6 van set up as an armored personnel carrier and a Crafter ambulance. Volkswagen prasentiert sich auf der RETTmobil 2015 - Golf Alltrack erstmals als Kommandowagen vorgestellt - Transporter T6 feiert Premiere als Mannschaftstransportwagen Hannover / Fulda, 4. Mai 2015 – Mit einer vielfaltigen Produktpalette prasentiert sich Volkswagen ab dem 6. Mai auf der RETTmobil 2015. Messehighlights sind der neue Volkswagen Transporter, der seine Premiere als Mannschaftstransportwagen feiert und der neue Golf Alltrack, der dort erstmals als Kommandowagen zu sehen ist. Bis zum 8. Mai konnen sich Besucher auf der internationalen Leitmesse fur Rettung und Mobilitat in Fulda uber Sonderfahrzeuge fur Rettungseinsatz und Krankentransport informieren. Am Volkswagen Messestand (Halle 3, Stand 303) prasentieren ein speziell ausgestatteter Golf Alltrack und ein Passat Variant 4Motion, das vielfaltige Leistungsspektrum der Marke Volkswagen Pkw fur den Rettungseinsatz. Beide Modelle sind als Kommandowagen aufgebaut und verfugen uber eine umfangreiche Sonderausstattung fur den Einsatz-betrieb wie etwa Digitalfunkvorbereitung, ein Sondertastenbedienfeld und eine Sondersignalanlage mit Blaulichtleuchte. Die Fahrzeuge sind ausserdem mit dem Unfalldatenspeicher UDS ausgestattet, der den Ablauf eines Ereignisses gerichtsverwertbar dokumentiert. Ein besonderes Messehighlight ist der neue Transporter T6 als Mannschaftstransportwagen. Das beliebte Einsatzfahrzeug von Feuerwehr und Rettung wird farblich passend in Rot-Weiss vorgestellt und bietet mit bis zu funf Einzelsitzen viel Platz fur das Einsatzpersonal und die notwendige Ausrustung.

Cost-cutting measures put VW Beetle in jeopardy

Volkswagen is on a mission to cut costs. That means producing more models across its various brands based on the same platforms and powertrains, but the latest word from Germany has it that it will also mean cutting some of the VW brand's less successful models. First on the chopping block, according to German publication Der Spiegel, is the three-door version of the Polo, which will reportedly cede its place to the five-door version exclusively. The elimination of that model alone is said to save VW a good 200 million euros, putting it on its way towards reducing the brand's costs by a targeted five billion euros. The Polo isn't the only one in danger, though. The Eos, as we know, is not due to be replaced, but the future of the Beetle could be in jeopardy as well. The Beetle may be one of VW's most iconic models, but is hardly its most successful in terms of sales. With the 2014 annual report due to be released shortly, the last full-year sales figures had Volkswagen selling 109,517 Beetles in 2013. That may be more than four times the number of Scirocco models it sold, but hardly puts a dent in the 871,413 Jettas, 824,629 Golfs and 725,291 Polos it sold during the same year.