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BMW, Ferrari, VW cars use tungsten mined by terrorists

Bloomberg Markets is reporting that BMW, Volkswagen and Ferrari have been using tungsten ore sourced from Columbia's FARC rebel terrorists. The extensive story focuses on Columbia's illegal mining trade and calls into question the provenance of the rare ore that is used not only in crankshaft parts production, but is also found in the world's computing and telecommunications industry for use in screens.
The ore is mined by the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army), and exported to Pennsylvania, where it is refined. The refined ore is then sent over to Austria, where a company called Plansee turns it into a finished product. Now, it's important to note that we aren't talking about the world's supply of tungsten here. In 2012, Plansee's American refinery purchased 93.2 metric tons of tungsten, valued at $1.8 million. That's peanuts, with the entire Colombian tungsten mining industry producing just one percent of the world's supplies.
That doesn't make indirectly supporting FARC any more acceptable, though. BMW, VW and Ferrari are all committed to not accepting mineral supplies from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is also in the grips of a guerrilla insurrection funded, in part, by illegal mining. The same commitment would figure to extend to Colombian mining, but as BMW points out, it's difficult for a multi-national manufacturer to know where every item in its supply chain comes from. A company spokesperson says as much, telling Bloomberg, "These few grams out of the billions of tons of raw materials passing through the BMW supply chain are of no practical relevance."

Best electric sedans of 2024

While the American automotive trends tend to lean toward SUVs and trucks, and sedans seem to be dying out, there are some great four-doors out there in the EV market. They may not have the bulk, the high vantage point, or the storage capacity of the utes, but some folks still want a car that’s, well, a car. A sedan might not always have as much room to cram in a big battery pack, either, but they also donÂ’t weigh as much. They tend to be more lithe, sexy and agile. And theyÂ’re generally cheaper than their bigger brethren, too, though some of the full-size luxury sedans can still get well into six-figure pricing. If thatÂ’s not your thing, you can check out the best electric SUVs, but if youÂ’ve read this far, you probably enjoy sedans as much as us. WeÂ’ve tested quite a few, and these are the best electric sedans of 2024.   Best electric sedans below $60,000 Tesla Model 3 — $40,380 The Tesla Model 3 is one of just two sedans (along with the Hyundai Ioniq 6) to make it onto our list of best EVs under $50,000. ItÂ’s quite the value, too, with a starting price of just $40,380. ItÂ’s also fun to drive. Yes, it has some quirks, including too many vehicle functions residing exclusively in infotainment menus, but the Model 3's idiosyncrasies are easy to forgive based on its price and range, and they're things you can quickly get used to or possibly even appreciate. No wonder this EV is so popular.   Hyundai Ioniq 6 — $43,565 Of the sedans on this list, the Ioniq 6 is one of the most affordable (starting at $43,565), and one of the best. ItÂ’s quite efficient, with long driving range — up to 361 miles. Its cabin is creative in its design while being practical and comfortable. Interestingly, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 is the sportiest version of Hyundai and KiaÂ’s E-GMP cars, apart from the high-performance Kia EV6 GT. Its design, value, range, fast charging and other useful tech easily make it one of best electric sedans you can buy.   BMW i4 — $53,195 Though the BMW i4 is essentially an electric version of the 4 Series Gran Coupe, this EV sedan is something special. ItÂ’s packed with power and great driving dynamics in true BMW style. The rear-drive i4 eDrive40 is one quick car, but the i4 M50 is ridiculously fast. If you can get past the questionable nose and the iDrive 8 infotainment system, the i4 is an electric sleeper, and a performance bargain.

BMW negotiates Daimler alliance, buys out car-service partner Sixt

Sixt sells its stake in DriveNow car-sharing to BMW BMW in talks with Daimler to combine car-sharing Combining car-sharing business to aid robotaxi plans FRANKFURT — Germany's BMW has bought out partner Sixt from their joint venture DriveNow, paving the way for a broader car-sharing and driverless taxi alliance with Daimler to compete against Uber and Lyft. Car rental company Sixt said on Monday it would generate an extraordinary pre-tax profit of about 200 million euros ($248 million) in 2018 from the sale of the DriveNow stake to BMW for 209 million euros. "With DriveNow as a wholly-owned subsidiary, we have all options for continued strategic development of our services," said Peter Schwarzenbauer, BMW's board member for Digital Business Innovation. "Our experience with mobility services supports our development of future autonomous, electrified and connected fleets," he said, adding that BMW aims to have 100 million customers for "premium mobility services" by 2025. The Sixt deal comes as BMW moves closer to a deal to combine its car-sharing services with Daimler's Car2Go, a person familiar with the discussions told Reuters last week. The German carmakers want to build a joint business that includes car sharing, ride-hailing, electric vehicle charging, and digital parking services, a senior executive at one of the companies said on Monday. Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler and BMW declined comment on the status of potential talks on their car-sharing business. "This is speculation, we do not comment," BMW said. The senior executive, who declined to be named because the plan is not public, said: "This will create an ecosystem which can also be used for managing robotaxi (driverless taxi) fleets." BMW would contribute its ParkNow and ChargeNow businesses to the common company, the executive said, adding that there were still differences of opinion over the valuation of Car2Go. The market for ride-hailing services currently makes up around 33 percent of the global taxi market, and could grow eightfold to $285 billion by 2030, once autonomous robotaxis are in operation, Goldman Sachs said in a recent research note. BMW and Daimler are now working on developing autonomous cars, vehicles which could enable them to up-end the market for taxi and ride-hailing services.