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Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla Model S full speed, Pheonix EVs at LAX

A Tesla Model S driver shows what it's like to maintain about 125 miles per hour on the German Autobahn. In the video, Bjorn Nyland records his trip from a stop at a Supercharger 25 miles to the Danish border while driving about 200 kph for about 12 minutes. Upon entering the Autobahn, he hits the limiter at about 212 kph, or almost 132 mph. As he's driving, the car's estimated driving range adjusts for his speed, and he quickly loses quite a few miles. He doesn't care, though. He's having fun. See the video above, and read more at Inside EVs. Phoenix Cars has provided an Electric Shuttle Bus to an airport parking company at the Los Angeles International Airport. As LAX's first electric shuttle bus, it is expected to run two shifts seven days a week, saving more than 60 tons of CO2 emissions yearly. The electric shuttle bus will be on display from June 29 to July 2 at the International Parking Institute Conference and Expo in Las Vegas. Phoenix also recently supplied its ZEUS electric flatbed to the US Navy. Read more in the press release below. Ballard will operate a fleet of eight hydrogen-powered buses in London for an additional five years. Transport for London uses the buses, powered by Ballard fuel cell technology, for its central Covent Garden-Tower Gateway route. The first five buses went into service in 2010 as Transport for London aimed to reduce CO2 emissions by 60 percent from 1990 levels by 2025. The three additional buses joined the fleet in 2013. "This contract extension is a positive endorsement of zero-emission fuel cell technology in transit applications, based on the demonstrated performance of these buses over the past five years," says Ballard Chief Commercial Officer Steve Karaffa. "Clean transportation is a growing concern for transit authorities globally and our fuel cell modules deliver a proven solution." Read more from Ballard. Volkswagen and SAIC are expanding electric vehicle operations in China. The partners will expand the main Shanghai Volkswagen plant to build electric vehicles. "Over the next four years, we plan to localize more than 15 different electric vehicle models in China, including plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles," says Volkswagen's Prof. Dr. Jochem Heizmann. Volkswagen will also step up fuel cell and plug-in hybrid research in China. In about four years, Volkswagen will build a new EV, based on the popular Lavida, at the Anting plant outside of Shanghai. Read more from Volkswagen.

Audi, Fiat squabbling over numbers and letters

There have been rumors and speculation and prognostications about a Nissan Juke- and Mini Cooper-fighting Audi Q2 since 2012. There have been the same for a performance-oriented Q4 since 2011, perhaps previewed by the TT Offroad concept shown last year at the Beijing Motor Show. Turns out that those two alphanumeric combos are the only ones missing from the series Q1 to Q9 in Audi's trademark stable, and the Ingolstadt company wants to get them to make its badge sequence and crossover lineup complete. But Fiat owns them, and rumor is, CEO Sergio Marchionne appears to have no interest in selling them. Fiat has used the Q2 and Q4 like trim badges, identifying whether a company product has two-wheel or all-wheel drive. They did it with the Alfa Romeo 159 sedan, and they do it now on the Maserati Quattroporte S and Ghibli S Q4 sedans. Car magazine says Marchionne "may not be categorically opposed to selling the rights," but he absolutely won't do it to any fiefdom in the Volkswagen empire, which would leave Audi a jilted suitor. Why is Sergio being so serious? VW Group CEO Ferdinand Piech first starting waving torches on the bridge between the two companies when he said Alfa Romeo could sell four times as many cars if Volkswagen owned it, then burned the bridge when it continued to publicize its desire to buy Alfa Romeo. VW followed that up by throwing salt on the land around the destroyed bridge with its aggressive pricing in Europe during the worst of the car sales slump there, which Marchionne said was causing a "bloodbath." VW's final flourish was to set the river itself on fire, when a press officer said Marchionne wasn't qualified to head the European Automotive Manufacturers Association (ACEA) and VW would quit the organization if he did take the top spot. That is why, putting it optimistically, Audi looks to have a grim chance of getting the Q2 and Q4 marques from the Italian. So long as he is in power, at least: Marchionne said he's walking away from the job in 2018. Audi might have a better chance bending the knee to, and generously rewarding, his successor. Featured Gallery Audi TT Offroad Concept: Beijing 2014 View 16 Photos News Source: CarImage Credit: Live images copyright 2015 Chris Paukert / AOL Government/Legal Audi Fiat Volkswagen Crossover Luxury Sergio Marchionne trademark volkswagen group

VW to relax ambitious US sales targets?

The Volkswagen brand sold 407,704 cars last year, a 6.95-percent decline compared to 2012, and it's down a further 8.36 percent through the end of April 2014 compared to this time last year. In order to to put the sales football between its Strategy 2018 goal posts, the brand would need to add 100,000 more sales every year to achieve the lofty 800,000-unit target. Coming to grips with how unreasonable that is, VW US CEO Michael Horn has said, "For now, we have to have realistic targets."
The reasons for the brand's slow-down are imprecise, but lots of folks are throwing lots of reasons around. Last November, VW Group Chairman Ferdinand Piech told Bloomberg, "We understand Europe, we understand China and we understand Brazil, [but] we only understand the US to a certain degree so far." Analysts say the brand hasn't had midsize and compact SUV offerings, especially an overdue retail version of the CrossBlue, and the ones it does have are priced too high for their segments. It "didn't introduce enough new engines, or alternative technologies or model variants" for the Passat and Jetta. It devoted so many resources to China that the US market suffered. It was being outspent two-to-one on advertising by competitors. Its J.D. Power dependability ratings aren't high enough to overcome its past. It "has never really taken the US customer seriously." And so on.
There's still no official admission of defeat concerning the target, but reading between the lines there are some VW execs that appear to accept it won't happen short of some deus ex machina. Still,