model (now in its fifth year) appear to have leveled off at roughly 2,000 per month.

A total of 67,698 Volts have been sold in the U.S. since the December 2010 introduction of the world's highest-production series hybrid vehicle.

Soaring BMW i3 sales

Meanwhile, after three months of sales of roughly 350 a month, deliveries of the BMW i3 soared in August to a remarkable 1,025--essentially doubling the number sold to date, for a total of 2,082 over four months.

BMW does not, however, break out sales of the battery-electric and range-extended versions, which in past month appear to have run about 60:40 in favor of the REx version.

There were also nine BMW i8 plug-in hybrid coupes sold, in the first month on the market for the stunning six-figure sports car withby nature flaming and exotic to me.

A birds-eye-view of the United States Barista Competition.

I was also in Boston to give a presentation at the conference about the power of stories. Coffee, uniquely among commodities (think of oil, wheat), is grown on small farms by many hands. There are massive plantations, yes, but more than 70% of the coffee grown in the world is grown by smallholders. In the last decade, significant changes have taken place in the technology used by coffee traders to trace where the coffee has come from and where it is going. Because of this, it’s possible much of the time to know not only that coffee was grown in Guatemala, but that it was grown by Arturo Aguirre on his farm Finca El Injerto