1983 Mercedes Benz 300cd Turbo Diesel Coupe 79,000 Miles! 300 Cd Cdt Dtd Td D on 2040-cars

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Child cobalt miners: Automakers pledge ethical minerals sourcing for EVs

BERLIN - Leading carmakers including Volkswagen and Toyota pledged on Wednesday to uphold ethical and socially responsible standards in their purchases of minerals for an expected boom in electric vehicle production. Demand for minerals such as cobalt, graphite and lithium is forecast to soar in the coming years as governments crack down on vehicle pollution and carmakers step up their investments in electric models. To cover its plans for more than 80 new models by 2025, Volkswagen alone is looking for partners in China, Europe and North America to provide battery cells and related technology worth more than 50 billion euros ($59 billion). Talks with major cobalt producers, including Glencore, at VW's Wolfsburg headquarters last week ended without a deal. More than half of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country racked by political instability and legal opacity, and where child labor is used in mines. On Wednesday, a group of 10 leading passenger-car and truck manufacturers announced an initiative to jointly identify and address ethical, environmental, human and labor rights issues in raw materials sourcing. The partnership dubbed "Drive Sustainability" consists of VW, Toyota Motor Europe, Ford, Daimler, BMW, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo Cars and truckmakers Scania and Volvo. The alliance "will assess the risks posed by the top raw materials (such as mica, cobalt, rubber and leather) in the automotive sector," said Stefan Crets of the CSR Europe business network. "This will allow Drive Sustainability to identify the most impactful activities to pursue" to address issues within the supply chain.Reporting by Andreas Cremer.Related Video: Image Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images Green BMW Ford Honda Jaguar Land Rover Mercedes-Benz Automakers Toyota Volkswagen Volvo Green Automakers Green Culture Electric Scania ethics mining

The Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 is pure electric excess

The Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 is a two-door, two-passenger coupe that spans over 18 feet long. Everything about this car is more than you need. But isn't that the true definition of ultimate luxury? With so much sheet metal, it can be tricky to get everything to look right, but Mercedes seems to have done nicely with this concept. Overall, the car's long nose and short deck are reminiscent of the Mercedes-AMG GT, and the long, tapering tail and lights are similar to that of the Mercedes-AMG Vision Gran Turismo concept from a few years ago. Capping off the front of the Mercedes-Maybach 6 is a proud, prominent grille that the company claims was inspired by a pinstripe suit. At each corner are 24-inch wheels with transparent panels based on the transforming, aerodynamic wheels of the Concept IAA Mercedes previously showed. Powering this massive coupe are four electric motors that can produce a combined 738 horsepower. Mercedes says that will be enough to get the car to 62 mph from a standstill in under 4 seconds. The motors are backed by an 80 kWh battery that the company says can propel the car up to 200 miles. Perhaps more interesting than its range is the fact that the Mercedes-Maybach 6 can pick up a charge worth 62 miles in just 5 minutes, assuming you've got the right charger. This is technology that could really make a difference in the day-to-day practicality of electric cars, provided that it makes it to reality. The car can be charged either by being plugged in, or wirelessly with an inductive charging system. Inside, the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 has even more fantastical features. It does retain analog gauges as a link to the past, but augments them with wrap-around glass trim that doubles as a display and touch-sensitive interface. The windshield seems to be pulled from Mission Impossible with its ability to display information. Sensors in the seats are designed to read the condition of the passengers and even their outfits to custom tailor everything from lighting to massage features. It's hard to say what the production odds are for this mega Mercedes, but you probably shouldn't hold your breath. Even for the rarified segment of seven-figure cars, this would be pretty extravagant. It wouldn't be impossible, or without precedent. Back when Maybach was still its own brand, the company created a ridiculous luxury coupe called the Exelero, and they sold the fully-functional car.

2016 Japanese Grand Prix | Hamilton faces the beginning of the end

We're told the Japanese mamushi viper haunts the undergrowth around Suzuka. If the pit viper attended the weekend's Japanese Grand Prix, it avoided human visitors but it put a nasty bite on Lewis Hamilton's championship hopes. The Briton, lined up second on the grid next to Mercedes-AMG Petronas teammate Nico Rosberg, flubbed his start. By the end of Turn 1 Hamilton was in eighth. Hamilton didn't suffer alone. The beginning of the race was a melee; many of the leaders got caught out either by the damp track or by having to swerve around slow starters. Only Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and Red Bull's Max Verstappen took off clean. The German rolled up another lights-to-flag victory despite the pass-happy race happening behind him. Rosberg was as unbothered by the Dutchman in second place as he was by the official Formula 1 camera feed. Verstappen didn't have much work to do until the final ten laps of the race. Thanks to the Mercedes team's strategy – or Ferrari waiting too long to pit – Hamilton got up to third on Lap 36 of 53. Unable to make a DRS-enabled pass on Verstappen down the front straight toward the end of the race, the Mercedes driver took a creative line through Spoon corner. Closing in down the back straight, Hamilton jinked inside to try a pass through the final chicane. Verstappen moved over in the braking zone while Hamilton was still behind him, closing the door on the move. Hamilton protested over his team radio, but seemed resigned to a third place finish after the incident – he didn't try any more passes in the final laps. The Ferrari duo of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen crossed the line fourth and fifth, respectively, in recovery drives after penalties. The scuderia tried an aggressive final stint after Hamilton successfully undercut Vettel in the pits. Ferrari put Vettel on the soft-compound Pirellis so he could hunt the Mercedes, but after a few laps of close pursuit the tires gave up and Vettel fell back. Daniel Ricciardo couldn't get comfortable in his Red Bull the entire weekend. The Aussie finished where he started, in sixth place. Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg followed the Red Bull home in two-up formation for Force India, Williams doing the same in the final two points-paying positions with Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Rosberg's 23rd career victory – his ninth of the season and first ever in Japan – puts him 33 points ahead of Hamilton in the Driver's Championship with four races left.