A commitment to renewable energy, a challenge for the improvement of natural disaster response, the world's fastest Beetle, and an electric vehicle milestone were among the items promoted by automakers recently.

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[naviga:li]General Motors says it intends to get all of its electric power from renewable sources by the year 2050. The automaker, which has 350 operations in 59 countries, used nine terawatt hours of electricity in 2015 to build its vehicles and power its offices, technical centers, and warehouses. GM says it has 22 facilities with solar arrays, and is in the process of building a 30-megawatt solar array at two locations in China. It also has three sites that get power from landfill gas, and four that will be connected to wind power later this year.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Ford will give away three $70,000 grants for nonprofit organizations in the United States to purchase a Transit van for disaster relief work. Organizations must describe how the van would be useful in their efforts to help communities recover from natural disasters. Government and municipal organizations are not eligible, and applications must be received by Oct. 31. Ford says it has assisted with disaster relief by partnering with organizations such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army, and gave away 15 vans to nonprofits over the past several years.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Volkswagen recently announced that one of its Beetle models has set a new world record in speed. Preston Lerner, a contributing editor to "Automobile" magazine, pushed the car to a 205.122 miles per hour during a trial on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, the fastest speed achieved by the model. The modified Beetle included a 543-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder engine, a lowered suspension, limited slip differential, and two parachutes to help the vehicle slow down. The stock Beetle includes a turbocharged engine, but produces only 210 horsepower.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]The Renault-Nissan Alliance is celebrating the sale of its 350,000th electric vehicle. The strategic partnership was established in 1999, and the sales milestone was measured from the introduction of the Nissan Leaf to the market in December 2010. The automakers also noted that they had sold 100,000 electric vehicles in a single year by August, setting an industry record. The Renault-Nissan Alliance sells a total of six electric models.[/naviga:li]

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