Wheelies: The Empowered Edition

Bradley Berman The CHAdeMO fast-charge plug, left, with the SAE combination plug.

In which we bring you motoring news from around the Web:

- SAE International, an organization of engineering professionals in the transportation industries, has released its long anticipated standard relating to DC fast-charging of electric vehicles. The ruling fell under the J1772 standard, which was developed between American and German manufacturers to create a uniform plug design and protocols for power transfer. Though the expanded standard would allow vehicles from American and German manufacturers to use the same charging infrastructure, Japanese E.V.'s built to the CHAdeMO st andard, which dictates a different plug design, would not be compatible. (SAE International)

- Lincoln announced on Monday that its coming 2013 MKZ Hybrid sedan was certified by the Environmental Protection Agency at 45 miles per gallon in combined urban and highway driving. The certification gives the MKZ an advantage of five m.p.g. over the 2013 Lexus ES 300h, Lincoln noted in a news release. The MKZ Hybrid uses a variant of the powertrain found in the Ford Fusion Hybrid, which was certified by the E.P.A. at 47 m.p.g. combined last month. (Lincoln)

- Roughly 47,000 Pontiac Vibe wagons were added to the recall of about 2.5 million Toyotas announced last week relating to a fire hazard. The Vibe was built in conjunction with the Toyota Matrix, one of the vehicles identified in the recall. According to a report filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the power-window master switch on certain vehicles could pose a fire risk if commercially ava ilable lubricants were used to address a notchy or sticky condition in the switch's operation. (N.H.T.S.A.)

- Motor Trend reported that the Volvo C30 hatchback was scheduled to be discontinued at the end of the calendar year. In a statement by an unidentified company source, Volvo said the decision was made to pull the C30 “to better position Volvo for the future and the next stages of our model portfolio.” The Swedish automaker sold 3,471 C30s in the United States last year, whereas Mini delivered more than 28,000 Cooper hardtops in the same period. (Motor Trend)