1973 Volkswagen Beetle Maxi Taxi 1600 Dual Port on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: unofficial Tesla ad, VW will produce Budd-e

An unofficial Tesla commercial pays homage to the automaker's namesake. The video, which shows the Model S driving through a dusty, petroleum-addicted landscape reminiscent of a Mad Max film, features words from a speech by electricity-obsessed inventor Nikola Tesla. While Tesla (the man) talks about advancing technology into the future through electricity, the cars surroundings switch from the barren oil village to a green countryside dotted with wind turbines. See the video above, and read more at Treehugger. Famous rapper Akon is a Tesla fan who wants to power Africa with solar energy. Akon, who once boasted a collection of 28 exotic cars, traded them in for four Teslas, including a Model X. Also, his organization Akon Lighting Africa provides free solar electricity and lighting to communities that need it. Clean Technica talked to Akon about solar power, Tesla and EVs in a video. See the video and read more at Clean Technica, and get more perspective from Teslarati. The Volkswagen BUDD-e EV may be moving to production. The electric vehicle, built on the MEB modular platform with looks borrowed from the Microbus, made its debut as a concept vehicle at CES this year. Volkwagen's Dr. Volkmar Tanneberger tells Car magazine, "You will see a car that looks a lot like this, on the MEB platform, reach production. I can't say exactly when, but 2020 or thereabouts." He also says that the California camper van and Transporter van will continue production with internal combustion engines. Read more from Car. The 2017 Kia Soul EV will have more range. While it is scheduled for some minor updates, upping the electric Soul's driving range from its current EPA rating of 93 miles will hopefully attract more customers than a simple facelift. Autocar spied the next Soul EV testing in some heavy camouflage, but it offered no other details about the range beyond its reported expansion. Read more from Plugin Cars.

Volkswagen Group looks to add ridesharing brand to portfolio

Volkswagen is rapidly trying to put the ongoing diesel scandal behind it at the Paris Motor Show with the unveiling of the automaker's electric I.D. Concept. In addition to unveiling the EV, the automaker also announced that it established a yet-to-be-named subsidiary for ridesharing purposes. The new brand will be VW Group's 13th, and will add mobility services to in the form of a carpooling service, similar to that of Uber and Lyft. This will include teaming up with Gett – a cab-hailing startup that operates in roughly 70 cities worldwide, which includes New York City, that was previously known as GetTaxi. Earlier this year, VW invested $300 million in the company. In addition to ridesharing, VW Group claims it is also hard at work on its own shuttle service as the brand aims to become a leader in urban mobility services by 2025. The name of the 13th brand and more information on the subsidiary will be released in November. VW Group also announced plans to give Gett drivers in Moscow, Russia "preferential terms" on a Volkswagen Polo, Volkswagen Jetta, Skoda Octavia, or Skoda Rapid. VW Group's 13th brand sounds similar to Mercedes-Benz's Vision Van Concept, which the automaker would allow consumers to lease and purchase the vehicle, as well as rent its services on a short-term basis. While the Vision Van Concept is a commercial vehicle that has delivery drones on the roof to aid deliveries, VW Group's shuttle service sounds more like autonomous buses to ferry people around. Now that diesels are dead, Volkswagen has quickly embraced the future, where autonomous and electric vehicles coexist. Related Video: Related Gallery Volkswagen I.D. Concept: Paris 2016 View 16 Photos News Source: Volkswagen Green Paris Motor Show Volkswagen Skoda Autonomous Vehicles Electric vw diesel scandal ridesharing 2016 paris motor show gett

VW still set on Phaeton redux despite cost-cutting drive and losing $32k per car

While critically well regarded, the Volkswagen Phaeton has proven to be a vehicle largely unloved by luxury buyers around the world. Despite this, it refuses to die. While VW's luxury sedan hasn't been sold in the US since 2006 due to low sales here, it has soldiered on in Europe with occasional updates. As the model's long lifespan has been winding down, VW has decided to keep pushing the Phaeton into a new generation, despite in-house alternatives like the Audi A8 and Bentley Continental Flying Spur. The move might not make much business sense, but Volkswagen executives are determined to make the Phaeton work. According to market analysts speaking to Reuters, developing the next-gen luxury sedan on the MLB platform could cost as much as 650 million euros ($737 million), despite relying on the same underpinnings in the A8. It's not like the Phaeton is leading the luxury sedan sales ranks, either. Reuters notes VW produced just 5,812 of them in 2013 (the most current year with data), and from 2002 to 2012, the automaker reportedly lost 28,000 euros ($32,000) on each example sold. Conversely, Mercedes-Benz sold 103,737 units of its new S-Class in 2014, an astonishing 82.2 percent jump over the previous year. The decision to keep the Phaeton going doesn't seem to square with the VW brand's cost-cutting strategy. Boss Martin Winterkorn announced last year a plan to save 5 billion euros ($5.7 billion) annually in the coming years. That plan reportedly also includes killing off less profitable models. Apparently, VW can't just rip off the band-aid and get rid of the Phaeton. Even some VW bosses seem somewhat perplexed at the sedan's business case. When Reuters asked the company's US boss Michael Horn about selling the Phaeton here, he said. "That's a dangerous question. It's an image bearer with no relevance for volume." The next-gen Phaeton is scheduled to go on sale in Europe in 2017 or 2018, according to Reuters, which is about a year later than previous rumors. A US launch will reportedly follow in 2018 or 2019 with the plug-in hybrid and potentially even diesel versions on offer. A starting price around $70,000 is estimated. Featured Gallery 2011 Volkswagen Phaeton View 15 Photos News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Volkswagen Plants/Manufacturing Volkswagen Luxury Sedan vw phaeton cost cutting