Mercedes Clk, Gt 430 Prototype Body Kit, Blue, One Of A Kind, Gray Interior on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Aston Martin reboots its EV offensive with Mercedes-Benz technology

Mercedes-Benz will provide Aston Martin the technology it needs to enter the electric car segment, according to the British firm's top executive. Its first battery-powered model is scheduled to arrive in 2025 at the earliest. As we've previously reported, Mercedes will increase its stake in Aston Martin to 20% by 2023. In exchange, it will grant the company access to its hybrid and electric powertrains. It's a win-win situation: On one hand, Mercedes can leverage the benefits of economies of scale. On the other hand, Aston Martin (which is far smaller) is able to access turn-key technology without spending an exorbitant amount of money on development. Executives are consequently rebooting Aston Martin's on-again, off-again electrification offensive. Its first electric model will be built using Mercedes-Benz-sourced technology when it goes on sale in 2025 or 2026, according to Automotive News Europe. Company boss Tobias Moers (who ran Mercedes-AMG until earlier in 2020) clarified the platform will come from Germany, but there's no word yet on whether the motor and the battery will, too. However, he confirmed plans to resurrect the Lagonda name on an electric-only sub-brand have been canceled. "Lagonda has a different purpose for the future. Electric-driven cars are supposed to be Aston Martins," he said. Hybrids are in the pipeline, too, including a gasoline-electric version of the high-riding DBX. Engineers were previously developing the technology in-house, but the project could end up in the automotive ash heap now that more Mercedes powertrains are in the picture. Moers affirmed he hasn't decided which route to take yet. "We are still working on that [hybrid drivetrain], but now we have alternatives. It's too early to say," he noted. Aston Martin will release the mid-engined Valhalla in 2021, and the plug-in hybrid DBX will begin rolling off the production line in 2023. Several new models will make their debut that year, Moers promised a "product firework," and it's reasonable to assume most will be available with some degree of electrification. He predicted every fourth or fifth car Aston Martin sells in 2024 will be electrified in one way or another. Green blues Aston Martin's path to electrification hasn't been smooth. In 2015, it joined forces with China-based LeEco to build an electric variant of the Rapide, but it was forced to finish the project on its own after its partner canceled the deal due to financial issues.

Recharge Wrap-up: BMW i3 goes against Mercedes B-Class ED, Tesla good for business

Car and Driver has published a comparison test pitting the 2014 BMW i3 against the 2014 Mercedes-Benz B-class Electric Drive. The test not only measured the quality of the driving experience, but also all the quantitative details that are especially important when looking at electric vehicles. For instance, the Benz's real-world MPGe surpassed its own rating, but it still couldn't match the BMW. The B-Class, though, won in the range department. We won't spoil all the results, or Car and Driver's overall pick, but you can head over to the article to find out for yourself. Tesla's expanding business, including the Gigafactory being built in Reno, NV, is encouraging growth in the locales and associated businesses. Some of Tesla's suppliers are talking of relocation, wanting to be close to the action stirred up by the electric automaker's expansion. It makes good business sense to be in the same neighborhood as Tesla. "We can react quickly, and our engineers are constantly working with Tesla," says Futuris General Manager Sam Coughlin. Brookings Institute fellow Jennifer Vey says, "The land around Tesla is being redeveloped and reimagined. It's a mash-up of an anchor campus, startups, housing and transit, in a physically compact area where companies can cluster and connect." Read more at San Jose Mercury News. EVs are doing even more to reduce energy use clean up the air, according to new analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists. According to findings, 60 percent of Americans now live in areas where EVs do more to reduce emissions than hybrids, up from 45 percent in 2012. Average electricity use is now 0.325 kWh per mile, down five percent from 2011. EV performance - in terms of mileage and emissions - is improving compared to traditional fuel vehicles, based on the sources of electricity in various regions. Read more from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Zipcar's carsharing network has launched in Paris. Zipcar is expanding across Europe, and has already established itself in Austria, Spain and the UK. According to Zipcar France's General Manager Etienne Hermite, "In a highly populated city, Zipcar's model has been proven to remove up to 15 personally owned vehicles from the road for each Zipcar in service, reducing parking demand, congestion and emissions." Zipcar European President Massimo Marsili hopes that most Parisians will eventually be just a short walk from a Zipcar.

2015 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Review

"It's about great cars on great roads." The late David E. Davis, Jr., said this of Winding Road when he took the reins as editor-in-chief in 2006. Our mission at that magazine was to not just review cars, but to describe the emotional experience of piloting brilliant machines down beautiful roads. "The art of driving," per David E. This all comes flooding back into my mind as I pull out of a Shell station onto Angeles Crest Highway, just south of the 210 freeway in La Canada Flintridge, CA. I'm in the 2015 Mercedes-AMG C63 S. I've got a full tank of fuel, the whole day to myself, and I'm staring down one of the finest driving roads in the country. Prior to this moment, I spent two days bombing around the greater Los Angeles area in this sinister-looking C63 S. This car is a villain, and looks appropriately so in black paint with the $750 AMG Exterior Night Styling pack. The C-Class as a whole is far more upscale in this latest generation, with its long hood, cab-rearward design, and short rear deck. "Baby S-Class" is not an exaggeration. Thankfully, the addition of AMG bits don't detract from the new C's more premium aura. Where a BMW M3 just looks like a brash 3 Series, the C63 is more like a C400 with a trick up its sleeve. The 4.0-liter V8 is an exceptional engine. Start the engine, and there's no question you're blessed with the power of AMG. Any worries I had about the new, twin-turbocharged, 4.0-liter V8 not providing enough aural delight are gone, especially with the $1,250 AMG Performance Exhaust. At start-up there's a low, burbly sound quality, typical of a V8. At full throttle, it's loud, angry, and passionate. I will always miss the naturally aspirated, 6.2-liter M156 V8 from the last C63, not only for its noise, but for its character. That said, I eagerly welcome Mercedes' new turbocharged techniques. The 4.0-liter V8 is an exceptional engine. In C63 S guise, the M178 lump makes 503 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, the latter of which comes on in full force as low as 1,750 rpm. That's a ton of power for the 3,935-pound C63. But it never feels like there's too much to handle. Power comes on progressively, and when I mash the throttle on a straight stretch of pavement, the car is composed and controlled. And quick. Seriously quick. Zero-to-sixty-in-under-four-seconds quick. The balance between viciousness and grace is perfectly met in this new C63.