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Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla Model X towing drag race, Porsche 918 salvage auction

Watch an Alfa Romeo 4C drag race against a Tesla Model X towing an Alfa Romeo 4C. The ridiculous (or, perhaps more appropriately, ludicrous) race appeared in MotorTrend's Instagram, which was then shared on Facebook by Tesla Motors Autopilot Program Director Sterling Anderson, along with the comment, "Fun fact: many high-performance cars cross the quarter mile line faster when towed by a Model X than they do on their own four wheels." While we can't quite see the actual results of the drag race in the video, it appears to be a close one. Check it out in the video above, and read more from Electrek. A Porsche 918 Spyder has gone up for auction. Unfortunately, it's a salvage auction, and said performance plug-in hybrid is totally mangled. The gut-wrenching photos reveal an even sadder detail, as the car's odometer shows it only logged 92 miles before being involved in what appears to have been a terrible wreck (though the listing describes the miles as "not actual"). The current bid on the Copart auction site is up to $106,000, and the listing shows a $600,000 repair estimate. The very expensive hunk of metal and carbon fiber is located in Long Island. Check out the listing for yourself, or read more at MotorAuthority. GKN Driveline says that German drivers are more interested in plug-in hybrids (especially with all-wheel drive) than conventional hybrid cars. In a poll of more than 1,000 drivers commissioned by GKN, 75 percent preferred PHEVs to standard hybrids, while 61.2 percent said that 50 kilometers (31 miles) of electric range is enough for their daily driving duties. About 81 percent are "wary of hybrids," most believing them to be a poor value. 52 percent said their ideal car would combine a plug and all-wheel drive. "We believe that plug-in hybrids with all-wheel drive make sense," says GKN Automotive President of Engineering Peter Moelgg, "and the public's positive response to vehicle programmes that offer this combination – like the Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine, BMW i8, and Porsche 918 Spyder – can only continue to grow." Read more in the press release below. NEW RESEARCH REVEALS GERMAN DRIVERS PREFER PLUG-IN HYBRIDS Lohmar, Germany, 22 March 2016: Drivers now consider plug-in hybrid vehicles to be more attractive and practical than conventional hybrids, a survey commissioned by GKN Driveline has revealed.

Scrapyard Gem: 2008 Alfa Romeo Spider 2.2 JTS

Alfa Romeo departed our shores after the final 164s and Spider Veloces were sold here as 1995 models, then returned for the 2015 model year with the 4C. Thanks to its position in the mighty Stellantis Empire, the current American-market Alfa Romeo lineup looks quite a bit like the Italian-market one, but we missed out on some interesting machinery during our Alfa-deprived 1996-2014 period. One of those cars was the 2006-2010 Spider, and I found a discarded example in an Italian/French specialty breaker's yard near Leeds, England during a recent trip. Sherburn Motor Spares is located in Sherburn-in-Elmet, on the former site of the factory where Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers were built during World War II. They specialize in Italian and French cars, which means the place overflows with vehicles we didn't get on our side of the Atlantic. I've written about a 1999 Alfa Romeo 166 and a 2009 Alfa Romeo Brera S that reside there, and now it's the turn of the Brera's convertible sibling. I couldn't resist buying this stunning "International Van of the Year 2008" emblem from a Citroen Dispatch at Sherburn Motor Spares; it now lives on the door of the breaker box in my garage. GBP3 well spent! "Spider" is a term originally applied to an arachnid-ish horse-drawn carriage and is applicable to any convertible-top automobile today, but Alfa Romeo didn't hesitate to use it as a model name in its own right when it came time to built a sporty convertible on a platform originally devised by Saab for use beneath GM and Fiat machinery. As it turned out, the only production cars using that platform ended up being Alfa Romeos. Giorgetto Giugiaro handled the design of the Brera coupe, while Pininfarina did both the styling and assembly of the Spider. As you'd expect, reviewers thought both cars looked great. Just over 12,000 2006-2010 Spiders were built. The U.K.-market Spider was available with front- or all-wheel-drive and a choice of three petrol and two diesel engines (yes, a diesel Alfa Spider!). This car has the base 2.2-liter JTS straight-four petrol engine, which was a direct-injected unit based on GM's Ecotec engine block. Output was 182 horsepower and 170 pound-feet. This one had donated some body parts by the time I arrived on a freezing Yorkshire morning, but it appears to have been in reasonably good condition upon arrival.

Alfa Romeo will be expanding its lineup beyond the Tonale

Last night, speaking with the press, Senior Vice President and Head of Alfa Romeo North America Larry Dominique gave us an idea of the Alfa lineup in the near future. The brand will be expanding its offerings, but not by too much. Alfa will eventually have five key models. It will have two offerings in the C-segment (Tonale-size), two offerings in the D-Segment (Giulia/Stelvio-size) and one in the E-segment (larger than Giulia/Stelvio). And as implied by our size clarification, we already know what most of those are, with the Tonale taking the C-segment SUV slot, and the Giulia and Stelvio for the D-segment. Dominique said the second C-segment vehicle would be something more car-like than the Tonale, though he wouldn't commit to saying it would specifically be a sedan. So it's possible it could be some kind of hatchback or maybe a coupe-like SUV. He was more vague about the E-segment vehicle. Considering the car market, some kind of SUV would seem most likely. As previously reported, this E-segment machine will arrive in 2027 with a wide range of electric powertrains from 300 to 1,000 horsepower. All of these new models will be fully electric. That includes the next-generation Giulia and Stelvio. The Tonale won't be going completely electric just yet, but it seems reasonable to assume a new generation model will be. Dominique noted that the Tonale, which is only offered with a plug-in hybrid in the U.S., is a good way to start introducing both dealers and customers to the idea of electrified Alfas. Apparently these five segments are the limit for Alfa for the time being. Dominique said that those models will cover more than 80% of premium buyers, and Alfa is trying to be "efficient" with how it covers the market. So don't expect the myriad bodystyles and niches from German brands such as BMW and Mercedes. There is one possible exception: a sports car. Dominique said that they're always interested in a sports car or halo product. He wouldn't commit in any way to such a product, though. With that being said, there's already been one teaser for something that might be just such a special sports car, maybe called 6C, a few weeks ago. We doubt that Alfa will launch a sports car that will stick around like the 4C, it will probably just be limited production cars that can be sold out quickly. Related video: A Night With Giulia