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Recharge Wrap-up: VW consumption down 24%, BAIC opens EV R&D in CA

The Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership will provide grant funding to 21 states to help improve consumers' access to renewable fuels. Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture announced the funding, which will help retailers purchase and install the equipment necessary to dispense fuels like E85 and other higher ethanol blends. Groups such as the American Coalition for Ethanol, Growth Energy, Prime the Pump, and the Renewable Fuels Association came forward to applaud the announcement. "This assistance in building out retail infrastructure is not only good for the American farmer but it is also great for the American motorist who will now have more opportunities to buy higher octane fuel at a lower cost," says Prime the Pump Chairman Ray Defenbaugh. Read more from Domestic Fuel. Volkswagen has reduced resource consumption of its vehicle production by 24.3 percent since 2011. As part of its "Think Blue. Factory." program, the automaker has implemented a series of environmental efforts (a number VW puts at 3,400 measures) at its factories worldwide. Examples include optimizing shut-down schedules, reducing solvent emissions, energy recovery programs, and recycling paper, plastic, and water. Read more at Green Car Congress. BAIC has opened an electric vehicle research and development center in California's Silicon Valley. The Chinese automaker's first overseas R&D facility, it opened under BAIC's subsidiary, Beijing Electric Vehicle Co. (BJEV), and is affiliated with the Beijing New Engineering Research Institute. The center will be responsible for the research and development of three to four new models per year, as BJEV intends to bring a complete lineup of EVs to market. BJEV also plans to open an R&D center in Europe. Read more at Green Car Congress or from BAIC. Co-CEO of Zap and CEO of Jonway Autos, Wang "Alex" Gang is providing $10 million in funding to the two companies in order to meet electric minivan orders. Zap/Jonway have taken down payments from Dongfeng to supply 11,000 of the EVs by the Chinese New Year (February 8) of 2016. The equity investment from Wang allows Zap/Jonway to ramp up production to meet this deadline, with a target of 1,000 EVs per month by year's end. Read more in the press release below. CEO Funds $10 million To Support ZAP and Jonway Auto in Delivering 11,000 EV minivan Orders SANTA ROSA, Calif., Sept.

Volkswagen names new chief designer for Bentley

The Volkswagen Group has named one of its own to head up the design department at its Bentley division. The role now falls to Stefan Sielaff, who has been with the group (off and on) since 1990. Sielaff is principally an interior designer, but has been tasked with setting up numerous overall design offices for Volkswagen and Audi over the years. In his new capacity he'll be reporting to the group's chief engineer Rolf Frech (and oddly not to Bentley chief Wolfgang Durheimer), but at the same time, Sielaff will retain his role as head of interior design for the entire VW group, reporting to its chief designer Walter de Silva. Sielaff replaces Luc Donckerwolke, who has headed up Bentley design since 2012 and is leaving the company. We'll be on the lookout to see where Donckerwolke lands next. Crewe/Wolfsburg, 04 June 2015 Stefan Sielaff to head design at the Bentley brand • Sielaff also responsible for Group Interior Design Strategy Stefan Sielaff (53), currently Head of the Volkswagen Design Center in Potsdam, will assume responsibility for design at the Bentley brand effective July 1, 2015 in addition to his present post as Head of Group Interior Design Strategy. As Director of Design at Bentley, Sielaff succeeds Luc Donckerwolke (49), who held this function since 2012. Stefan Sielaff joined the Volkswagen Group in 1990, beginning his career in the interior design department at Audi. From 1995 the design graduate was entrusted with setting up the Group's Design Center Europe in Spain. In 1997 he was placed in charge of the Design Studio in Munich and was appointed Head of Audi Interior Design in the same year. In 2003 Sielaff moved to DaimlerChrysler as Design Director of the Interior Competence Center, returning to the Volkswagen Group in 2006 to become Head of Audi Design before being appointed Head of the Volkswagen Design Center in Potsdam und Head of Group Interior Design Strategy in 2012. In his new function as Director of Design at Bentley, Sielaff reports to Rolf Frech, Board Member for Engineering. In his function as Head of Group Interior Design Strategy he continues to report to Walter de Silva, Head of Group Design. Luc Donckerwolke has decided to leave the company. De Silva said: "Luc Donckerwolke has played a key role in the design of various Group brands. We would like to thank him for his work." Related Video: News Source: Volkswagen Design/Style Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Bentley Volkswagen

VW Jetta TDI dyno shows HP loss trying to recreate cheat mode

Volkswagen is working on a fix for diesel-engined vehicles that are out of compliance with emissions regulations in the US and other countries. We're told that engineers will be presenting a solution internally sometime this month, but that doesn't mean we'll actually see it in the wild this month. One big question we have about the coming fix is, will it affect the car's performance? That question relates to another we have about the engine as it is: How much performance would the 2.0-liter diesel lose right now if it were turned down to pass US emissions? The Fast Lane Car tried to sketch some answers by going to a shop in Denver, Colorado to run a 2011 Jetta TDI with a six-speed DSG transmission on an all-wheel-drive dyno. The thinking was that if you ran all four wheels the car would think it was on the road, whereas if you ran only two the car might think it's being tested. We'll get straight to the numbers: the stock sedan is quoted at 140 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque. When run with all four wheels turning it produced an uncorrected 114 hp and 214 lb-ft at the wheels. When run with just two wheels in motion the Jetta got 113 hp and 188 lb-ft at the wheels. Reading the graph, we're told that power differences between the two runs were as much as 15 hp and 32 lb-ft. You'll need to take some salt with these numbers, though, because the dyno and test protocol in the video are nothing like those used by the EPA. The shop attempts to trick the Jetta into 'emissions testing mode' by using the front wheels only for the two-wheel-drive run, but we have a feeling the software code at issue is far more sophisticated than that, since the ICCT, UVA, the EPA, and CARB investigated the situation for more than a year and couldn't figure out. Also, the technician adjusts for being a mile above sea level with a correction factor of 1.2 applied to horsepower and torque, which inflates the disparity in the final power differences over the two runs. Go to YouTube and read the lengthy comments on the video left by Andrew Price for a more thorough dissection of what could explain TFL's disparities. You can watch the video above, and feel free to try and dissect the results yourselves in the comments below. Related Video: