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Recharge Wrap-Up: No new Smart Roadster, Africa to UK on one tank, Duke's efficient axial engine [w/videos]

Smart will not make another generation of the Roadster, but a Smart SUV might be in the cards. According to Smart's CEO, Annette Winkler, "The Roadster isn't a profitable business case. Everybody is keen on the car, but nobody wants to pay the bill." What Car? states that Smart is likely planning a baby SUV to take on the Nissan Juke and its ilk. But for the immediate future, Winkler says Smart "must focus on how we can maximize potential of the Fortwo and Forfour. That is strategy number one." Read more over at What Car?. A Mercedes-Benz E300 Bluetec Hybrid made the 1,223-mile trek from Africa to the UK on just one tank of fuel. Driven by Andrew Frankel of Autocar, the diesel hybrid left Tangier, Morocco with a full tank of gas (using the optional 80-liter fuel tank), and arrived in Goodwood with the car indicating 100 miles of range left. Frankel and his co-driver averaged 61.2 miles per gallon (73.6 mpg UK) on the intercontinental journey through four countries, despite elevation changes and a traffic jam. See the first video below for more information, or check out the article at Carscoops. Duke Engines promises simplicity and efficiency from the axial engine it's developing. Rather than lining up the cylinders, this engine arranges them in a circle, which allows Duke to avoid unnecessary weight. The five-cylinder, four-stroke motor manages the same amount of powerstrokes per revolution as a standard six-cylinder mill, but weighs 30 percent less. It also has much fewer parts, says Duke. Its high compression ratios mean more power with less fuel, which adds up to more efficiency and fewer emissions. The second of the two videos below, which we first found over at Sploid, explains Duke's axial engine. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Related Gallery Smart Roadster Patents Related Gallery Mercedes-Benz E400 Hybrid and E300 BlueTec Hybrid: Detroit 2012 Photos View 13 Photos News Source: Carscoops, What Car?, Sploid via World Car Fans Green Mercedes-Benz smart Fuel Efficiency Technology Emerging Technologies Diesel Vehicles Hybrid Videos recharge wrapup diesel hybrid smart roadster

Here's today's round of auto plant closures in response to coronavirus

More automakers have shuttered factories, as businesses everywhere work to slow the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus — and as the pandemic slows sales and disrupts parts supply chains. On Friday, the following closures were announced: • Volvo will close its factories in Sweden and the United States from March 26 to April 14. Volvo's U.S. facility, in Charleston, South Carolina, makes the S60 sedan. Its assembly plant in Torslanda, Sweden, turns out the XC90, SC60, and V90. Other Swedish facilities make engines and component parts. A Volvo factory in Ghent, Belgium, that builds the XC40 and V60 closed earlier this week and is expected to remain offline until April 6. Volvo's four factories in China have been reopened after a shutdown earlier this year. • Jaguar Land Rover announced that it will suspend production at its assembly plants in the UK over the coming week. The shutdown is expected to last until April 20. Elsewhere, production continues at the company's factories in India and Brazil, and JLR's joint-venture plant in China reopened at the end of February. • Bentley is closing its factory in Crewe, England, for four weeks, effective today. • Bugatti has put its atelier in Molsheim, France, on hiatus. No date was given for when assembly of its supercars might resume. • Mercedes-Benz on Monday will shut down its SUV factory in Alabama and its van assembly plant in South Carolina. Both will remain closed for a minimum of two weeks. Tesla yesterday revealed that it will suspend operations at its Fremont, California, vehicle assembly plant next week, on order from local officials there. Yesterday's factory closure announcements also included the U.S. assembly plants for Toyota (until April 6), Volkswagen (through March 29), Subaru (through March 29), and Hyundai (no time period specified). They join GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Nissan, and Harley-Davidson, which earlier this week announced the suspension of production at their facilities. Plants/Manufacturing Bentley Bugatti Jaguar Land Rover Mercedes-Benz Volvo coronavirus

The most or nothing: Mercedes-Maybach S650 Cabriolet pushes the luxury limits

After the introduction of the Mercedes-AMG GT Roadster at the Paris Motor Show this fall, we informed you that Mercedes-Benz has a convertible conundrum, a surplus of drop-tops that seemingly threatens to self-cannibalize within the brand's ever-proliferating lineup. Benz's head of design, Gorden Wagener, who spends much of his time in Southern California, argues it's not a problem: Each convertible, in its ideal construction, would intrinsically vanquish any issues. "The bad is the enemy of the good," he said, not exactly quoting Nietzsche. Now, the three-pointed star brand has upped the top-down ante, with the unveiling this week at the Los Angeles auto show of the Mercedes-Maybach S650 Cabriolet, a vehicle so opulent, it sits in price and position atop the uber-luxury brand's current top-of-the-line offering, the $247,900 Mercedes-AMG S65 Cabriolet. View 24 Photos "Mercedes-AMG is our performance brand so it's all about performance stuff," says Wagener in a one-on-one interview on the roof of a Beverly Hills mansion just before the new car is unveiled. "Of course, Maybach has power, too, but it's the ultimate in luxury. So it's more on that side. And for me in the interior, it's the haute couture of the automobile, so we tried to up that a little more with details. And on the exterior, it's a more superb appearance up front, more chrome, more rich, and of course we tried to up that branding even more. The S-Class is the best car in the world, we consider, I always thought we could raise the Mercedes brand. And it's the same with the S convertible." Why does Mercedes-Benz need a flagship atop its flagship? Because, when climbing the mountain of automotive luxury there is always the customer who, when he or she reaches the pinnacle, wants more. A car brand, especially one with deep pockets and luxurious heritage like Mercedes, can always further gild the automotive lilies, creating a step up for those for whom the brand's motto, The Best or Nothing, is a literal life credo. "It's always our job to make it better," Wagener says. "Each little detail, the wood, the wood under cover of the cabriolet, the leathers. All the super luxury details that make a luxury car into a super luxury car. The key is to make a modern luxury design and not a traditional luxury design. There is definitely a market for traditional luxury, but we always wanted to have Mercedes, Maybach in particular, as a modern luxury car.