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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

Jaguar vs. Jetman: Place your bets

As many car-versus-jet races as we've seen on video, we never seem to tire of them. This latest one, however, doesn't so much pit a car against a jet airplane, per se, but a guy in a jetpack against a supercharged Jaguar. That in and of itself might make this clip worth a watch. The guy in question is one Yves Rossy, otherwise known as the Jetman. The Swiss air force aviator developed, wears, and pilots a six-and-a-half-foot-wide fixed wing fashioned from carbon fiber and fitted with four jet turbines strapped to its underside, each good for 88 pounds of thrust. He's flown it over the Alps, across the English Channel, and above the Grand Canyon, but now he faces off against another adversary. That, of course, would be the Jaguar XJR, complete with 5.0-liter supercharged V8 good for 550 horsepower. Piloting the performance sedan is none other than Martin Brundle, a former F1 driver, Le Mans winner, and television commentator. The two line up on and above a 1.75-mile stretch of road in the deserts of Dubai for the showdown. We could tell you who won, but you'll want to watch the video above for yourself to find out first-hand. And if you want to know more about the Jetman and his amazing flying creation, watch the video below. Related Video: F1 Star Martin Brundle and New Jaguar XJR Take on High-Flying 'Jetman' in World-First Desert Drag Race - Martin Brundle drives new 2016 model year Jaguar XJR in 1.75-mile live car race against 'Jetman' Yves Rossy in the Dubai desert - Head-to-head race demonstrates the benefits of lightweight construction on agility, performance and control in the air and on the road - Sandy conditions offer a clear demonstration of the benefits of the Jaguar XJ's new All-Surface Progress Control (ASPC) - New short film captures the action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xssOxHoEhrk - Brundle and Rossy discuss comparable technology within their two machines The Jetman Dubai pilot Yves Rossy, took on his first ever live race when he went head-to-head against a Jaguar XJR driven by former Formula One star Martin Brundle in a unique contest deep in the Dubai desert. Brundle, who drove in F1 alongside Michael Schumacher and is now a commentator, had the new all-aluminium 550PS, 5.0-litre Supercharged V8 Jaguar XJR at his disposal while Rossy was strapped to his 2m-wide fixed wing, powered by four Jet-Cat superchargers. The race took place on a closed private road and in the skies above it, and was captured in a three-minute short film.

Aston and Jag from James Bond Spectre have at it

Daniel Craig hasn't made a bad James Bond film yet. Spectre is his next step into the iconic role that's due to hit theaters on November 6, and it doesn't look likely to ruin his streak. Still, that's a long wait for such an exciting movie. If you're willing to possibly spoil just a little for yourself, a new featurette shows part of one of the big car chases right now. From what we've seen so far, the chase through Rome in Spectre has earned a good amount of screen time. While the reason for it in the plot is a mystery, that doesn't really matter anyway. What's important is that the scene stars Bond in the Aston Martin DB10 and a villain played by Dave Bautista in the now supercharged V8-powered version of the Jaguar C-X75 racing around the Italian capital's tight streets at night. This clip gives a glimpse at some of the work necessary to get the difficult filming completed. We've seen some of that effort before, though, when footage of the preparation for one shot leaked out. Craig reportedly sustained a pretty bad bump on the head during the shooting, and an earlier rumor also suggested that Bond might get behind the wheel of a Fiat 500 at some point in the scene.