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Porsche names new motorsport chief

Though it may have expanded into crossovers and sedans, Porsche is still a company with racing at its heart. You might even argue that Cayenne and Panamera sales only serve to fund the company's motorsports activities. Competition-spec 911 coupes still make up a large portion of the grid in any GT racing series, and those activities are presided over by the Porsche GT division (separate from its LMP1 program), which has just announced a changing of the guard.
Porsche's GT unit - which is responsible both for racing models like the 911 RSR and road-going models like the 911 GT3 - has until now been steered by Hartmut Kristen (pictured above, left) in his capacity as Vice President of Motorsport at Porsche AG. During his ten-year tenure, Kristen gave birth to the RS Spyder that competed in the American Le Mans Series and the pioneering 911 GT3 R Hybrid. He also fostered what Porsche characterizes as "arguably the most comprehensive youth development program in motor racing" and saw the marque return to Le Mans last year with a dominant 1-2 class victory.
Kristen, now 59 years old, is leaving the German automaker, but will remain an advisor to the company's R&D department. Taking over as VP of Motorsport will be Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, who has until now been head of the 918 Spyder project (a responsibility he will continue). Walliser (pictured above, right) was previously Porsche's general manager for motorsport strategies and will now be responsible for Porsche's GT projects on and off the track, while Fritz Enzinger continues at the helm of the LMP1 program in pursuit of better results next year than the 919 Hybrid achieved at Le Mans last month.

Recharge Wrap-up: Porsche 918 Spyder named Robb Report Car of the Year, cheap E85 in MN

Robb Report has named the Porsche 918 Spyder as its 2015 Car of the Year. The luxury lifestyle publication chose the powerful hybrid for being "the rarest, fastest, quickest, and most groundbreaking production Porsche ever," says Robb Report automotive consultant Robert Ross. About 140 judges were involved in the decision, which was announced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week. Read more at Robb Report. Samsung SDI brought four new batteries to the Detroit Auto Show. One is a 120-Ah battery with a range of over 300 kilometers (186 miles). A second is interoperable between plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles. A third is a compact hybrid battery that offers smaller packaging without losing capacity. The fourth is a low-voltage system meant to replace or work alongside lead-acid batteries and improve fuel economy. Read more at The Korea Economic Daily, or in the press release below. A relationship between a Minnesota ethanol producer and retailers means cheap E85 for customers. The DENCO II ethanol plant began blending its own E85 fuel in 2011, and now sells directly to 45 gas stations. DENCO II sets the pricing for the fuel, and has been running a promotion for certain retailers to sell E85 for about a dollar cheaper than E10 gasoline. That promotion includes a Cenex station in Alexandria, MN selling E85 for just 85 cents per gallon. The result has been success for both the producer and gas stations, with customers having more cash to spend on retail goods when they go inside to warm up. Read more at Ethanol Producer Magazine. Samsung SDI, targeting the North American market with automotive batteries and high-tech materials ? Display batteries and materials for automobiles at NAIAS from January 12, 2015 ? Introduce high capacity battery cells providing 300km driving distance per charge ? Present Non-Painting Metallic Material, the winner of SPE Automotive Innovation Award ? Samsung SDI, the world-leading material and energy solution provider introduced automotive batteries and engineering plastic materials targeting the North American market at the Detroit auto show. Samsung SDI showed off automotive batteries for electric vehicles as well as advanced materials for the interiors and exteriors of conventional vehicles at the 2015 North American International Auto Show.

Felicity Ace sinks with thousands of VWs, Porsches, Lamborghinis

The stricken ship Felicity Ace sank overnight after a week of salvage efforts ultimately proved unsuccessful. The ship, which was carrying up to 4,000 VW Group cars, went to the bottom unexpectedly while a salvage team was attempting to tow it to shore, Bloomberg reports.  "Initial reports from the local salvage team state that the vessel had sunk at around 9AM local time having suffered a list to starboard," Mitsui O.S.K. Lines transportation company (MOL), which owns the Felicity Ace, said in a statement released early Tuesday.    "The last vessel position was around 220nm off the Azores," MOL said. "The salvage crafts will remain around the area to monitor the situation. Further information will be provided as it becomes available." The ship sank after being battered by waves and listing 45 degrees to starboard, the ship’s operator said. “The weather was pretty rough out there,” Pat Adamson, a spokesperson for MOL Ship Management (Singapore), a unit of Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd., said by phone. “And then she sank, which was a surprise.” VW, Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini-branded models were aboard the ship, which was headed to Rhode Island from GermanyÂ’s Emden port when the fire broke out on Feb. 16.  Rough seas and ongoing fires fueled by the lithium-ion batteries of EVs onboard delayed the ship's salvage and recovery operations for the better part of a week. While the likelihood of salvaging the smoke and potentially fire- and water-damaged vehicles from Felicity Ace's hold was slim to none, some had held out hope that their special-ordered vehicles might survive the mishap.  The Panama-flagged Felicity Ace was safely evacuated of its 22 crew members by the Portuguese navy after a fire started in its hold more than a week ago. The ship can carry up to 4,000 cars. European carmakers declined to discuss how many vehicles and what models were on board, but it appears to have been transporting approximately 2,500 cars, including roughly 1,100 Porsches and an undetermined number of Volkswagens.  The cars aboard were on order. Porsche customers in the United States were being contacted by their dealers, the company said. “We are already working to replace every car affected by this incident and the first new cars will be built soon,” Angus Fitton, vice president of PR at Porsche Cars North America, Inc., told The Associated Press in an email. The ship sank in water nearly 10,000 feet deep, the Portuguese Navy said.