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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

Say goodbye to Jaguar's vestigial oval grille

Jaguar has been on a campaign to replace any and all retro cues with modern ones. Just look at the current XJ and the one it replaced, or the XF and the S-Type that came before it and you'll know what we mean. The one remnant is the XK and its oval grille, in and of itself a throwback to Jags of old (which started to look more like a certain Star Wars alien in above-pictured XKR-S form). But don't expect it to hang around.
Newer Jaguars have been ditching the oval aperture for a more squared-off one, and the next XK will have to fall in line. But don't expect that to be the only change in store for the next-generation Jaguar coupe and convertible.
With the new F-Type now holding the more enthusiast-oriented ground, the next XK is expected to grow bigger, softer and more luxurious. That will likely mean a more commodious back seat as well, though that shouldn't be hard to do considering the lack of space in the back of the current model...

Jaguar F-Type gets even more British with Design Edition

Short of maybe driving a Morgan while wearing tweed and smoking a pipe, automobiles don't come much more quintessentially British than a Jaguar. But now the F-Type is going to be even more so with the launch of the new British Design Edition. It's based on the six-cylinder F-Type S, but upgrades with a series of special touches to set it apart. Red, white, and blue are the dominant colors from which buyers will be able to choose both the exterior color and that of the interior contrast stitching. The leather interior comes in black, and those less patriotically inclined can spec the outside to match. The British Design Edition also features 20-inch wheels in dark gray satin finish, packing upgraded brakes with red calipers. The Design package comes standard with upgraded aero, as does the 12-speaker Meridian sound system. And naturally there are special insignia inside and out. Buyers will be able to choose between coupe or convertible and rear- or all-wheel drive, but either way motivation comes in the form of JLR's 3.0-liter supercharged V6, driving 380 horsepower and 339 pound-feet of torque through an eight-speed automatic transmission. Only 300 units will be coming to the United States, with prices starting at $92,100 (plus a $995 destination charge) – representing a substantial $14.8k premium over the $77,300 price of entry for an F-Type S Coupe. Spec one out with similar options and you'd be looking at $86,250, which makes the privilege (and resale value) of acquiring the limited edition a $5,850 proposition. Any way you cut it, though, the elbow patches cost extra.