2003 Volkswagen Passat Gls Sedan 4-door 2.8l on 2040-cars

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EVs still burning aboard ship carrying luxury cars near Azores

LISBON — Heavy tug boats on Tuesday sprayed water on a burning ship carrying thousands of Porsches and Bentleys adrift off the coast of Portugal's Azores islands, the ship's manager said in a statement. The Felicity Ace, carrying around 4,000 vehicles including Porsches, Audis and Bentleys, some with lithium-ion batteries, caught fire on Wednesday last week. The 22 crew members on board were evacuated the same day. Ship manager Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd (MOL) said in a statement the vessel was still on fire but stable, and that no oil leak had been reported so far. It also said the ship was drifting further from the Azores islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Two large tug boats equipped with firefighting gear arrived from Gibraltar on Monday, and were working with another patrol boat to spray water at the Felicity Ace and cool it down, MOL said. The arrival of two other tug boats with more firefighting equipment is scheduled for Feb. 23 and Feb. 26. "Together with the all relevant parties, MOL is making every effort to contain the damage and resolve the situation as soon as possible," MOL said. Joao Mendes Cabecas, the captain of the nearest port on the Azorean island of Faial, said on Sunday the fire had lost its intensity, probably because there was little left to burn. Cabecas said as the fire subsides and the structure cools down, firefighting teams and technicians might be able to board the vessel to prepare to tow it either to Europe or the Bahamas. "When conditions are safe the salvage team will board the Felicity Ace for an initial assessment," MOL added. Cabecas told Reuters over the weekend the lithium-ion batteries in the electric vehicles were "keeping the fire alive." It was not clear whether the batteries had caused the fire. MOL did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the cause of the fire. Volkswagen, which owns the car brands, said on Monday it did not have any further information to share. Green Bentley Porsche Volkswagen Electric Luxury ev fire

VW Golf TDI circles US on less than $300 of diesel

$294.98. That's how much it cost the Volkswagen team to drive across all 48 contiguous states in the union. Which is pretty impressive, but it's only part of the story. In an effort to demonstrate just how economical a conventional diesel engine can be, VW sent a team out from its US headquarters in Herndon, VA, in a Golf TDI. Their mission was to visit all the Lower 48 on as little fuel as possible. Over the course of 16 days, they traveled 8,233.5 miles, burned through 101.43 gallons of fuel, and marked a frankly astonishing average of 81.17 miles per gallon. As a result, the team – made up of hypermiling automotive journalist Wayne Gerdes and electronics engineer Bob Winger – picked up a new Guinness World Record for the lowest fuel consumption achieved in a non-hybrid car across the 48 contiguous states. The previous record, it's worth noting, had also been set by VW and Gerdes, who piloted a 2013 Passat TDI at just a hair under 80 mpg. But here's the kicker: in raising the diesel economy bar even higher, the team also beat the record for the same achievement in a hybrid vehicle by over six mpg. So the next time someone tries to tell you a hybrid is more efficient than a diesel (at least on the highway), you can point them towards this record. Related Video: VOLKSWAGEN GOLF TDI® ROUNDS LOWER 48 STATES ON LESS THAN $300 OF CLEAN DIESEL, SETS GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ ACHIEVEMENT FOR FUEL ECONOMY Golf TDI® beats the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ achievement for "lowest fuel consumption—48 U.S. contiguous States for a non-hybrid car" at a stellar 81.17 mpg Herndon, Va. — Volkswagen of America, Inc., is pleased to announce today that the 2015 Golf TDI® Clean Diesel, part of the family of vehicles that won the 2015 North American Car of the Year, has set a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS® achievement for the "lowest fuel consumption—48 U.S. contiguous States for a non-hybrid car" with a remarkable 81.17 mpg. Traveling 8,233.5 miles around America in 16 days on $294.98 of Shell® Diesel fuel, the Golf beat the previous mark of 77.99 mpg by more than 3 mpg, and also beat the hybrid vehicle record of 74.34 mpg by more than 6 mpg. "Covering 8,233.5 miles on just 101.43 gallons of Clean Diesel fuel is a remarkable accomplishment, and solid proof of the efficiency and fuel economy of Volkswagen's TDI® Clean Diesel vehicles," said Michael Horn, President and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Recharge Wrap Up: VW's Last Mile Surfer, Apple's BMW i3

Volkswagen has unveiled its Last Mile Surfer. This little electric scooter – it folds up small enough to fit in the trunk and weighs just 24 pounds – will go on sale next year for around 1,000 euros ($1,100 US), according to VW chairman Martin Winterkorn, as reported by Autocar. Of course, we're wondering why you'd need to pay that much money to avoid walking a mile, but maybe we just haven't walked that far in an interested buyer's shoes. See more at Autocar. Did Apple want to use the BMW i3 as the basis for its own electric car? That's the word from the German magazine Manager, which says that Apple and BMW were talking about using the i3 shell for the plug-in iCar (or whatever) started last fall but are no longer actively taking place, but the two organizations have not totally closed off communication. Read more at Manager or at Green Car Reports. BMW is continuing its efforts to connect your car to your phone in interesting ways with the new EnLighten app. The idea here is to let your phone act as a bridge between alerts about traffic signals and the car, so that notifications can be displayed in the dash instead of on your phone. That should keep more eyes on the road and let drivers minimize those races to the next red light, which will save fuel. At least, it will do so in cities that broadcast that sort of signal information. Read more in the press release below. Traffic City Info Makes Driving in Cities Easier than Ever Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – July 27, 2015... The BMW Group announced today that it is the first manufacturer to bring the EnLighten App, by Connected Signals, into the car. Drivers of BMW Vehicles with iOS Devices will be able to see traffic signal data on the vehicle's display in real time. The EnLighten app makes driving in cities easier by helping the driver anticipate traffic signal changes, which can increase safety and help save fuel by avoiding unnecessary acceleration. The EnLighten app shows the current status of the traffic light in front of the car in real time as well as a countdown to when the signal will change. Based on the current vehicle position, as well as its speed, the EnLighten app offers a recommendation about whether or not to stop for the traffic light or proceed through. An audio alert notifies the driver about a pending change in the signal they are approaching.