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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

2024 Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV tops $180,000

The 2024 Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV is staking claim to the "next era of driving pleasure," but that pleasure will come at a steep price. The company officially announced Wednesday that the super-lux, battery-electric SUV starts at $181,050 (assuming the $1,150 destination fee doesn't increase for 2024) — $50,000 more than the standard Mercedes-Benz EQS 580. And you can order one starting today.  While U.S. figures are still partially up in the air, we do have some preliminary specs. To go with its 649-horsepower output, the EQS 680 SUV was rated at 600 km of total range on the WLTP cycle, which works out to about 373 miles. While Mercedes-Benz doesn't have EPA figures to offer, the EQS 580 is rated at approximately 340 miles with the same pack and a very similar (613 km) WLTP-certified range. 0-60 comes in just 4.1 seconds on the way to a top speed of 130 MPH. Charging the EQS 680 SUV back up from 0% will take a bit longer — nearly 13 hours on a Level II AC charger — but DC fast charging (10-80%) takes just 31 minutes at its max throughput rate of 200 kW.  The Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV is available with five different two-tone color combinations. All of the two-tone options will feature the lighter color on the bottom half of the SUV, since the darker tone up top better accentuates the vehicleÂ’s aerodynamics. Maybach-specific design details include vertical metal-look lines in the EQSÂ’ faux grille and a Mercedes-Benz star ornament on the hood.  ThereÂ’s a Maybach logo on the D-pillar and the taillights have a unique running light pattern. Mercedes-Benz says 21-inch wheels are standard for now; larger 22-inch wheels, as well as a sixth two-tone paint option, will come later. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Mercedes-Benz working on S-Class EV in accelerated green car lineup?

With Mercedes-Benz bringing out coupe and plug-in hybrid versions of its S-Class sedan, the German automaker just may follow through with a battery-electric variant as well. That's what the company's Uwe Ernstberger told the folks at Top Gear during the Geneva Motor Show. And while he noted the company still needs to work in a larger-than-usual battery pack and was less than specific with details, he did envision an all-electric S-Class "in the future." Of course, rumors started bubbling about an EV S-Class as far back as 2011, so we'll see. Christian Bokich, department manager for product and technology communications for Mercedes-Benz USA, would not confirm anything about an electric S-Class, but he did give AutoblogGreen an official rundown of MB's upcoming green cars in the US, starting with the launch of the all-electric B-Class ED in July of this year in the ZEV states (launch details for other states are TBA, he said). An S-Class plug-in hybrid is coming in the first half of 2015, followed by a C-Class PHEV closer towards the end of that year in the USA. There is also a C-Class four-cylinder BlueTEC coming at some point in 2016. Until we get more concrete information about the possible S-Class EV, let's review what we know about the PHEV. Last September, Mercedes-Benz started showing off the plug-in hybrid S-Class, saying that it could go as far as 19 miles on electric power alone and had a preliminary fuel efficiency rating of more than 78 miles per gallon, using the more lenient European driving cycle. Earlier this week, Mercedes showed off its S-Class Coupe. That model's US version will have a twin-turbocharged V8 that kicks in 449 horsepower, a few more than the presumptive S-Class EV will have. Ernstberger also said Mercedes would join the ranks of automakers offering autonomous driving systems and mentioned the S-Class as being at the "top of the movement." He held his tongue when asked about the possibility of an S-Class cabriolet.