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Recharge Wrap-up: BMW cars to share i tech, Jordan to build solar EV charging network

Jordan is looking to promote EVs and build a solar charging network. The country is waiving import tariffs on electric cars, and is spending $120 million on solar chargers. It plans to build 3,000 charging stations, along with 30 MW of solar power. Some chargers will be powered by solar canopies, while others will get electricity from nearby solar farms. Jordan's solar plan should also help to lessen the amount of energy it needs to import from nearby countries. Read more from Navigant Research, or at Green Car Reports. BMW's mainstream cars will benefit from technology borrowed from the i3 and i8, according to BMW sales head Ian Robertson. In an interview with Automotive News, Robertson said that next-generation cars will use carbon fiber more extensively, and that more cars will get plug-in technology. He said that about half of i3 buyers opt for the range extender and added that it is incorrect to refer to a range-extended electric vehicle as a plug-in hybrid. Read more at Automotive News. The ethanol market should remain healthy despite falling oil prices. While cheap oil could drive down ethanol prices, demand still remains due to the federal biofuels standard. Additionally, ethanol producers may find it cheaper to ship their products as domestic oil production drops and railroad shipping opens up. Ethanol byproducts like distillers grains continue to sell, and foreign demand continues as other countries impose their own renewable fuel standards. Read more at Yahoo News. Via Motors will launch the production of an electric Chevrolet Silverado. The company will convert the pickups into range-extended EVs at its assembly line in Mexico, near GM's Silverado plant. Via has the capacity to produce 10,000 vehicles per year at its Mexico facility. Via Motors Chairman (and former GM Vice Chairman during the early days of the Chevrolet Volt project) Bob Lutz wants to help make EVs mainstream in America, and believes that requires electrifying pickups and SUVs. Read more in the press release below. Bob Lutz to Announce Production Launch of the Electrified Chevy Silverado BY VIA Motors Media access to Bob Lutz, former Vice-Chairman of General Motors and father of the Chevy Volt Bob Lutz is now Chairman of VIA Motors who builds the "Volt Style" extended range electric drive system for the Silverado, the Express Van and is working on the SUV's (Tahoe, Suburban) 5 years in development. Now production Launch and Consumer Sales in 2015.

BMW recalling all 2000-06 3 Series models over airbags in US, 1.6M globally

We just can't seem to get away from recalls involving the faulty airbag inflators supplied by Takata. There are already millions of vehicles in need of repair as a result of these ever-expanding campaigns, and BMW is adding another 1.6 million worldwide. The Bavarian automaker is issuing a recall for certain 3 Series models, including 574,000 of them in the US, to replace the passenger-side, front airbag inflator.
Specifically, the campaign covers 3 Series models from the 2000 through 2006 model years built between May 1999 and August 2006. "It's only the E46" generation of cars that are affected, which are now two model revisions old, according to BMW of North America spokesperson Matt Russell, speaking to Autoblog.
These models suffer the same problem as the rest of the vehicles with the faulty inflators. It's possible for the part to rupture during airbag deployment and possibly spray shrapnel at the occupant. However, according to BMW, the automaker isn't aware of any actual cases of this happening in any of its vehicles.

Finalists for 2014 Green Car of the Year announced

The list of finalists for the 2014 Green Car of the Year has been announced, and in a genuinely bizarre twist, there's only one hybrid and no electric vehicles among the five contestants, despite the arrival of cars like the BMW i3 and Tesla Model S. Taking the place of the EVs are a pair of diesels, repping a technology that last won a Green Car of the Year award in 2009, when the Audi A3 TDI took the title. No diesel was in the running for last year's award.
Naturally, both of the diesel finalists are fielded by the Germans - with BMW's 328d and Audi's A6 TDI getting the nod. In the case of the 3 Series, BMW installed a 2.0-liter, turbodiesel, capable of delivering 180 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, while returning 45 miles per gallon on the highway. Audi and its larger, 3.0-liter, V6 turbodiesel produce quite a bit more grunt, with 240 hp and 428 lb-ft of grunt, but net a very impressive 38 mpg on the highway in the A6.
Finalists for this year's awards include two diesels, three gas-powered cars and a plug-in hybrid.