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Recharge Wrap-up: Shift to offer Teslas for Hire, Model S P85D beats Ferrari in drag race

A company called Shift plans to provide bikes and EVs for hire. Based in Las Vegas, NV, Shift will provide chauffeured ride services like Uber, but will also include a car- and bike-sharing service that delivers the desired wheels to the customer. Shift's fleet will include EVs like the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive and the Tesla Model S. Shift also promises that you will, "Be on your way within five minutes," which is a pretty tall order. Shift is scheduled to be available to members beginning this fall. Read more at The Car Connection. Nissan UK has confirmed the price of replacement batteries for the Leaf. UK drivers will be able to buy new batteries for 4,920 pounds (or about $7,738). That's considerably more than the price of $5,499 for US customers. Customers get 1,000 pounds back when they exchange their old battery. The original battery is covered under a five-year, 60,000-mile warranty, and most owners will never need to replace it. According to Nissan, only three replacement batteries have been sold out of 30,000 Leafs sold in Europe. Read more at Autocar. The Tesla Model S P85D walloped a Ferrari in an impromptu drag race video. The Ferrari driver pulls up alongside the Tesla and asks, "What you got in there?" before challenging him to a race. The Ferrari gets a head start, but the Tesla pulls out ahead quickly. The video also gets the reactions of some passengers to the car's mighty acceleration. See the video below and read the account of a drag race against a Lamborghini Aventador at Car Throttle. Australian website Drive has chosen their Cars of the Year in various categories. The Tesla Model S was a carryover winner for Luxury Car Over $80,000, but the Mercedes-Benz C200 narrowly overtook it to be crowned the overall winner. Regarding the Model S, one judge says, "This makes every other EV look at least a generation behind." The main thing that held the Tesla back from winning outright was the near-term lack of charging infrastructure. The judges did note Tesla's plans to build a network of Superchargers in Australia, but also pointed out that those plans exclude much of the country so far. See the video below and read more at Drive. 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.

Race Recap: 2016 European GP was a cakewalk for Rosberg

Formula 1 teams had no setup data or tire information for the six-kilometer Baku City Circuit hosting the European Grand Prix, and that's the reason for much of the weekend's excitement. Nico Rosberg snatched pole position after Mercedes-AMG Petronas teammate Lewis Hamilton hit the wall during qualifying. When the lights went out, Rosberg put in a clinical drive way out front to score his second career grand slam: pole position, leading every lap, fastest lap, and victory. Sebastian Vettel put in a similarly lonely drive in his Ferrari to second. The German had little to do on track other than get around his teammate on Lap 28, and that came courtesy of team orders. Sergio Perez started from second on the grid, but a gearbox change after clouting the wall during Free Practice dropped him to seventh. The Mexican cut his way through the field after his sole pit stop on Lap 17 of the 51-lap race, passing Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen for third on the final lap. It's Perez's second podium in three races after finishing third in Monaco. Force India has five podium finishes in its eight-year history, and Perez's name is on four of them. Raikkonen followed in fourth. Stewards hit the Finn with a five-second penalty for crossing the pit-entry line during the race, so even if Perez hadn't passed him on track, Raikkonen would have been classified fourth. Hamilton's up-and-down weekend ended with a burst of radio messages and a whimper. He climbed from tenth on the grid to fifth in the race, then his energy recovery system began harvesting in the wrong places. The snafu cost Hamilton two seconds per lap compared to the leaders. The trouble came from a switch turned to the incorrect position, but the FIA ban on driver assistance meant Hamilton's engineer couldn't tell the driver how to fix the problem. At one point when Hamilton said he was going to reset the whole car, his engineer replied, "Um, we don't advise that, Lewis." Hamilton finally found the proper setting on Lap 43, but turned the engine down again when he realized he couldn't catch the leaders. Mercedes said that Rosberg had the same issue, but Rosberg fixed it on his own. Valtteri Bottas got his Williams across the line four seconds behind Hamilton. Red Bull teammates Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen couldn't get their tires to work, forcing both racers to pit twice before finishing seventh and eighth.

Mercedes-Benz to build new ML coupe-crossover in Alabama in 2015

Mercedes-Benz will expand its factory in Tuscaloosa, AL, to build the ML Coupe, a new crossover that will join its lineup in 2015. Mercedes will also ramp up production to build facelifted versions of the M-Class and GL-Class SUVs, lifting the factory's total production capacity to about 300,000 units annually in 2015. It made 185,000 vehicles in 2013. In addition to SUVs, the Tuscaloosa site also makes the C-Class sedan.
The plans come as part of Mercedes' strategy to capitalize on Americans' increasing demands for SUVs. The company said the SUV market was up 12 percent in first half of 2014, and expects it to grow at twice the rate of the regular market in 2015 and 2016.
"We are seeing climbing demand for SUVs." - Dieter Zetsche