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Yes, a family of 5 can live in a 1981 VW Westfalia van

Automakers and marketers trying to reach environmentally conscious consumers who desire the simple life basically have two strategies: promote electric vehicles that can be charged through green energy or sell a 30-year-old Volkswagen van on Craigslist. Nicolas Boullosa and Kirsten Dirksen opted for Plan B and turned a 1981 Volkswagen Westfalia camper into a "micro-living" experiment. The co-founders of the simple living website faircompanies packed up their van and three young children for a road trip through the Pacific Northwest. They even turned the adventure into a documentary called Summer of (Family) Love, which you can view below. It's two hours long, so maybe add this to your weekend viewing list. They limited themselves to one backpack per person into a camper that they purchased off Craigslist and named "Westy." They stuck to their original intention of cooking all their own meals off a propane stove, creating a new little home every night in a different location, mostly spaces outside RV parks. They met up with other enthusiasts of the "tiny house" community who live like nomads. They were able to interview a few of then and, "With each stop we picked up some new piece of wisdom about life's essentials," Dirksen wrote in the faircompanies blog. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: Faircompanies via Treehugger Green Volkswagen Green Culture Transportation Alternatives vw van westfalia

Major automakers urge Trump not to freeze fuel economy targets

WASHINGTON — Major automakers are telling the Trump administration they want to reach an agreement with California to avoid a legal battle over fuel efficiency standards, and they support continued increases in mileage standards through 2025. "We support standards that increase year over year that also are consistent with marketplace realities," Mitch Bainwol, chief executive of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group representing major automakers, will tell a U.S. House of Representatives panel on Tuesday, according to written testimony released on Monday. The Trump administration is weighing how to revise fuel economy standards through at least the 2025 model year, and one option is to propose freezing the standards through 2026, effectively allowing automakers to delay investments in technology to cut greenhouse gas emissions from burning petroleum. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not formally submitted its joint proposal with the Environmental Protection Agency to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review. Even so, last week, California and 16 other states sued to challenge the Trump administration's decision to revise U.S. vehicle rules. Auto industry executives have held meetings with the Trump administration for months and have urged the administration to try to reach a deal with California even as they support slowing the pace of reduction in carbon dioxide emissions that the Obama administration rules outlined. One automaker official said part of the message to President Donald Trump at a meeting on Friday will be to consider California like a foreign trade deal that needs to be renegotiated. Automakers want to urge him to get automakers a "better deal" — as opposed to potentially years of litigation between major states and federal regulators. On Friday, Trump is set to meet with the chief executives of General Motors, Ford, Fiat Chrysler and the top U.S. executives of at least five other major automakers, including Toyota, Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG, to talk about revisions to the vehicle rules. Senior EPA and Transportation Department officials will also attend. Environmental groups are eager to keep the rules in place, saying they will save consumers billions in fuel costs. A coalition of groups plans to stage a protest outside Ford's headquarters in Michigan.

Volkswagen bringing new Touran minivan to Geneva

Volkswagen is bringing a wealth of new metal to the Geneva Motor Show this year. Unfortunately little if any of it is ever likely to reach American shores. There's the new Passat Alltrack, the Golf GTD Variant and a trifecta of new vans: the facelifted Caddy, the revised Sharan and this, the new Touran. Smaller than the Sharan, the Touran is Germany's top-selling minivan and boasts over 1.9 million units sold to date. It was introduced to the VW passenger van lineup in 2003 and was replaced in 2010 with an all-new model. What you're looking at here is the third-generation Touran, based on VW's ubiquitous new MQB architecture. Most obvious is the new sheet metal that makes it look sharper and more in step with the rest of the German automaker's lineup compared to the model it replaces. But there's more to the new Touran than its skin. It's also nearly five inches longer, with most of that length added in the wheelbase to give it a more commodious cabin that's also been updated with the latest equipment and offers room for up to seven passengers. Despite the larger size, it's a good 136 pounds lighter than the outgoing model, so it promises better performance in both its driving dynamics and its environmental credentials. Prospective customers (in markets where the Touran is sold) will be able to choose from a range of three gasoline and three diesel engines ranging from 108 horsepower up to 187, burning as much as 19 percent less fuel than the outgoing model's lineup thanks to features like stop/start engine management and brake force regeneration. There's even a sporty R Line package to give it a little visual aggression. For better or worse, though, the US market will almost certainly be left out: reached for comment, our source at VW USA pointed out that the Touran and Sharan aren't big enough to fill the shoes left by the Routan - but that the upcoming three-row crossover will. Volkswagen presents the new Touran - Germany's best-selling MPV completely redeveloped - More room; smart new design - New engines up to 19 per cent more economical Volkswagen presents the new Touran. The completely redesigned MPV was showcased before an audience of international media representatives at the Autostadt in Wolfsburg, not far from the production site where the popular family car is made. The interior of the new model has undergone a significant increase in size and is highly configurable.