2005 Mercedes-benz Ml500 Special Edition Low Miles Loaded A+ Condition 4x4 Awd on 2040-cars

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2014 Mercedes-Benz B-Class ED has 87-mile range, 84 MPGe

Well, that extra weight had to be felt somewhere. With Mercedes-Benz getting ready to start US sales of its B-Class Electric drive this summer, the big question was how well its range would stack up against other electric vehicles sold in the States. Turns out, the Benz is a bit of a juice hog. Let's say up front that the 87-mile single-charge range of the Mercedes-Benz actually stacks up nicely against its competition, since that distance puts the new model right in line with the Nissan Leaf and BMW i3 (we'll ignore the Tesla Model S for a second, here). You can find the numbers at the US Department of Energy's FuelEconomy website. As far as miles per gallon equivalent ratings, though, the Benz's steel frame makes it come up short, as it's about 1,300 pounds heavier than the carbon-fiber-body i3 and about 600 pounds heavier than the Leaf. The B-Class EV has a bigger battery than the i3 or the Leaf (36 kWh compared to 22 kWh for the i3 and 24 kWh for the Leaf) and that's one reason the car gets an 84 MPGe rating, which is about 26 percent less than the Leaf's and 32 percent less than the i3's. But at least the local utility companies will be happy. Mercedes-Benz priced the 177-horsepower B-Class ED in April at $41,450, or $100 more than the i3. Check out Autoblog's First Drive impressions here.

Why all of this year's F1 noses are so ugly [w/video]

If you're a serious fan of Formula One, you already know all about The Great Nosecone Conundrum of 2014. Those given to parsing each year's F1 regulations predicted the strong possibility of the so-called "anteater" noses as far back as early December 2013. Highly suggestive visual evidence first came after Caterham's crash test in early January, with further proof coming as soon as Williams showed a rendering of the FW36 challenger for this year's championship. That car earned a name that wasn't nearly so kind as "anteater."
Casual followers of the sport - or anyone who gets the feed from this site - probably don't know what's happening, except to wonder why the current year's F1 cars are led by appendages that would make Cyrano de Bergerac feel a whole lot better about himself.
The short answer to the question of ugsome F1 noses is "FIA regulations and safety." The reason there are various kinds of ugsome noses is simpler: engineers. The same boffins who have given us advances including carbon fiber monocoques, six-wheeled cars, double diffusers and Drag Reduction Systems are bred to do everything in their power to exploit every possible freedom in the regulations to make the cars they're building go faster - the caveat being that those advances have to work within the overall philosophy of the whole car.

Mercedes caught testing stretched E-Class Maybach

The Mercedes-Maybach S600 won't be the only vehicle to wear the hyphenated name of two of the world's automotive luxury greats. That hulking S-Class will soon be joined by an E-Class variant, which should offer the same touch of subtle luxury as its big brother. At least, that's what we're guessing based on the latest round of spy photos, showing a stretched E-Class with some very telling camouflage. Pay attention, as our spies did, to the rear doors and C-pillar. Like the Maybach S600, the E-Class model features a larger quarter window, although unlike the S, the doors here look to be a bit larger than your usual E550 or E250. Also take note of the heavy tint on those rear windows. It's likely there to obscure whatever sumptuous hides and warm woods Maybach has fitted to the typically business-class interior. While the interior materials are likely to see sweeping changes, expect Mercedes to treat the exterior with a much gentler touch. There'll probably be some unique wheels and C-pillar-mounted Maybach badges, like what we've already seen on the S600. Check out the full round of spy photos up top, and stay tuned for more on the latest Mercedes-Maybach. Related Video: