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Recharge Wrap-up: Audi R18 e-tron Quattro wins WEC opener, Toyota Mirai goes to DC

The Audi R18 e-tron Quattro has won the World Endurance Championship season opener at Silverstone. Drivers Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer piloted the number 7 hybrid racecar to a hard-fought win in the six-hour UK race. "This victory is a dream start of the season and a great reward for the whole squad for the hard work last winter," says Audi Motorsport boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, congratulating the team. Audi's second R18 took fifth place in the race after a couple of unscheduled pit stops ate up precious time. Read more in the press release from Audi, below. Mini and Spanish designer Jaime Hayon are presenting new versions of the Mini Citysurfer electric scooter concept at Salone del Mobile in Milan, Italy. The installation, called "Urban Perspectives" depicts an idea of the future of urban mobility. The imaginary living space houses two examples of the Citysurfer concept designed by Hayon. The first is painted to resemble blue and while porcelain, with dots and stripes to give it an upbeat look. The second uses more upscale materials like anodized metal, copper and leather to blend modern and classical elements. The foldable Citysurfer scooter can travel 10 to 15 miles on a charge, and is designed fit and charge inside the trunk of a Mini Cooper. Read more from Mini. Tesla has announced the locations of its first Superchargers in Australia. It will install eight charging booths at the Goulburn Visitor's Centre, about 120 miles southwest of Sydney. The Goulburn superchargers will be powered by renewable energy. Tesla plans to install a network of Superchargers in cities along the route connecting the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane south to Melbourne. Read more at Clean Technica. The Toyota Mirai will be on display at the National Mall in Washington DC to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Earth Day. Toyota is a sponsor of Global Citizen 2015 Earth Day from April 17 to 19, which will include speakers, musical performances and, of course, Toyota's new hydrogen fuel cell car. "Earth Day 2015 is a great platform to educate the public about hydrogen fuel cell technology and the potential of hydrogen as a future fuel," says Toyota's Bob Carter. Also in April, Toyota will continue to enlighten the public about the Mirai and hydrogen technology in Union Square Park in New York on April 19, and at Waterkeeper Alliance's "Keep it Clean" comedy event in Los Angeles on April 22. Read more from Toyota.

Bosch, Daimler say Tesla's Supercharger strategy a disservice to EVs

Here's a classic pot-kettle-black story. Daimler, which has a partnership with Tesla, is calling the EV automaker out for its Supercharger stations that - at this point - only work with Tesla vehicles. Daimler, along with supplier Bosch, is saying that there should be compatible standards in the EV industry. Tesla has big plans to install Supercharger throughout Germany (and Europe), but Daimler isn't singing praises. Daimler's research and design chief, Thomas Weber told Automobilwoche that, "The future [of an electric charging infrastructure] lies in standardization. As with gas stations, we need a charging system for all manufacturers, not least because it reduces the cost of the infrastructure, but it is also more convenient for customers." That's true as far as it goes. The irony here, of course, is that Daimler and its partners chose to develop a new DC fast charging system, the SAE Combo system, despite the fact that another standard (CHAdeMO) was already widely available. The SAE Combo team said when the technology was unveiled that it, "will optimize customer ease of use and will accelerate more affordable deployment of electrified vehicles and charging infrastructure," even though there are thousands of CHAdeMO stations in operation today and only a handful of SAE units.

Sun and wind could power Tesla Gigafactory for EV batteries in Nevada

Next week is Tesla Gigafactory week. The California automaker has a major announcement planned, and it's all about its intention to build a battery factory so large, the company is pulling out the giga prefix. At some point in the next seven days, we expect to hear where Tesla will build the plant, who it will partner with, how it will pay for it and lots of other details. The production volume is expected to be at least 30 gigawatt-hours-worth per year. The Gigafactory will take in the raw materials for lithium batteries and put out finished packs, not only for the electric vehicles made by Tesla and its automotive customers, but also for massive amounts of renewable energy storage – that's a niche the company plans to begin to occupy sometime early next year with residential-sized products. The production volume is expected to be at least 30 gigawatt-hours-worth per year. That's more storage than all the lithium battery factories in the world combined produce now. Color us impressed. Now, you might be thinking, "Is it really necessary to go that big at this point in time?" In a word: yes. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said its upcoming, more-affordable vehicle – widely expected to be called the Model E – will wear a $35,000 price tag and boast a battery big enough to take it 200 miles on a charge. To achieve this, the cost of the cells needs to come down dramatically, and so it's no coincidence that the time frame for the new facility will parallel that of this car. According to Musk, the benefits from the economies of scale will see a cost drop between 30 and 40 percent. Of course, historically high prices are one of the main reasons why battery storage has not been widely used in the renewable energy sector, so this development could help drive more demand for cleaner, affordable energy, which, in turn, will drive demand for more storage. That's the kind of vicious cycle we like to see. Musk said the Gigafactory will be "heavily powered" by wind and solar energy. Speaking of renewables, that is where the Gigafactory will get much of its needed energy. During the call with financial analysts that accompanied the release of its 2013 fourth quarter earnings report, Musk mentioned that the new plant will be "heavily powered" by wind and solar energy, and will also use older Tesla packs for storage. These will help deflect the traditional arguments against wind and solar, that the sun doesn't shine at night and the wind doesn't always blow.