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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

2018 Range Rover Sport Coupe spied in Scotland

Sport utility vehicles are the rage. SUVs with coupe styling are pretty popular, too, as BMW and Mercedes have demonstrated. Now it's Land Rover's turn. Believed to be the upcoming Range Rover Sport Coupe, this ute was spied this week during top secret testing at a remote location in Scotland. The vehicle would slot between the Range Rover Sport and Evoque, giving Land Rover an answer to the Mercedes GLE and BMW X6. These shots show what appears to be a chopped roofline, giving the new model a sportier profile than the traditional upright silhouette of Rovers. We expect it will use a version of the aluminum Jaguar F-Pace platform and offer V6 and V8 engines. It could also offer a hybrid or full electric version. The new crossover might also be lower set in a bid to differentiate it from traditional Rovers and give it a performance vibe. The Range Rover Sport Coupe – or whatever it is ultimately called – would enter a strong segment that's found favor in the United States. Once derided for potentially offering less function than traditional utes, these lifestyle vehicles have developed a strong following for their style and capability. The X6 was so successful, BMW added the smaller X4, and this forced Mercedes to follow suit with the GLE and GLC coupe variants. In this context, it's about time for Land Rover to join the fray. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Land Rover Range Rover Sport Coupe View 12 Photos Image Credit: KGP Photography Design/Style Spy Photos BMW Land Rover Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes may end Tesla supply agreement for B-Class Electric Drive

The Mercedes-Benz B Class Electric Drive has only been rolling off the production line for 17 months, each one equipped with a battery pack and drivetrain from Tesla Motors, but already there is talk of big upcoming changes. According to a report from the German publication Auto Motor und Sport, the next-generation version of this model will see an end to the Tesla-supplied tech and a hugely improved range. Currently, the electric sedan gets an EPA-rated 87 miles of range, using 28 kWhs of its 36-kWh battery, though its now-standard "Range Plus" package takes advantage of more of the pack, stretching that driving to 100 miles or so. It may take a year or several – the model just had a refresh – but expect those distance digits to double. The rumored range is said to be 500 km (310.7 miles), but since that would likely be calculated using the European drive cycle, expect something significantly lower stateside; say 220-ish official miles. This would be in keeping with expectations from a number of battery-powered competitors in the 2017-2018 time frame. It is unknown if this supposed next-gen B Class Electric Drive is in any way related to the rumored "Ecoluxe" program. The Tesla/Daimler relationship stretches back to 2009, when the Stuttgart-based outfit made a significant investment in the California automaker, quite possibly saving it from extinction in the process. We have reached out Mercedes-Benz about this report, but as of this writing, have not had a reply. We will update this post when we hear back. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2015 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive: Paris 2014 View 13 Photos Green Rumormill Mercedes-Benz Tesla Electric Sedan electric drive electric drivetrain