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Recharge Wrap-up: 2015 Honda CR-Z now on sale, Daimler and Linde building hydrogen stations in Germany

The 2015 Honda CR-Z hybrid is now available at dealerships, for slightly more money. The CR-Z starts at an MSRP of $20,145 (plus $790 in destination charges), up from the $19,995 price of the 2014 model. For those who don't want to row their own gears with the six-speed manual transmission, the available CVT adds an extra $650 to the price, but also offers better fuel economy, especially in the city. The manual-equipped CR-Z gets 31 mpg city/38 highway/34 combined, while the CVT version is rated at 36/39/37 mpg. The 1.5-liter engine and electric motor provide a combined peak 130 horsepower. The manual CR-Z offers 140 pound-feet of torque, with the CVT version providing 127 pound-feet. Customers can also soup up their new CR-Z with upgrades (including a supercharger) from Honda Performance Development. Learn more in the press release below. Daimler and Linde are teaming up to build hydrogen fueling stations in Germany. The automaker and gases and engineering company, with the help of a few oil and gas companies, plan to install 13 new stations by the end of 2015. The installations precede a push by Daimler to get more fuel cell vehicles on the road. "From 2017, we are planning to bring competitively priced fuel-cell vehicles to market," says Daimler's Herbert Kohler. "So now is the time to build a nationwide fuelling infrastructure." Linde will supply the stations with fully renewable hydrogen. Read more in the press release below. In 1899, an EV set a world landspeed record, and Wired has revisited the story with a nice look back at the "La Jamais Contente" and its driver, Belgian engineer Camille Jenatzy. Jenatzy built an electric car to race in a hillclimb, which he won while clocking a top speed of 17 miles per hour (measured the old-timey way - without radar guns). Just a few weeks later, another man set a landspeed record of 32 miles per hour, beginning a back-and-forth series of setting new records. Then, on April 29, 1899, "The Red Devil," as Jenatzy became known as, surpassed 100 kph (62 mph) when his torpedo-shaped electric car set a record of 65.8 mph. It was powered by two 25-kilowatt electric motors. Read the whole story over at Wired.

Lots of new cars were unveiled in Munich this week. Here's what you might've missed

The 2021 Munich Auto Show is happening this week and due to ongoing corporate travel restrictions, we remained firmly planted on this continent. So, although we can't tell you exactly what it's like inside the futuristic new Mercedes EQE electric sedan or fully appreciate the funky Volkswagen ID.Life concept, there's no shortage of details and analysis to provide.  Obviously, as Germany's premier auto show in 2021, the cars unveiled were primarily from the German brands. We also focused mostly on the cars that might actually make their way to the United States, or at least inspire those that will.   2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE is an electric alternative to the E-Class While the EQS paved the way for Mercedes' electrified future, much like the S-Class before it, the EQE stands to be the car that will move in far greater numbers -- much like the E-Class before it. Mercedes-Benz EQE 350 View 12 Photos   Mercedes-Maybach EQS Concept shows SUV future of the flagship brand Opulence will still have a place in an electrified future, as Maybach gets into the EQ game with a grand electric SUV. Mercedes-Maybach EQS Concept View 4 Photos   Volkswagen ID.Life concept previews the city car's high-riding EV future Well, isn't this adorable? Though perhaps a tad derivative of the Honda E, Volkswagen's blocky little crossover EV nevertheless represents a handsome new direction for VW design. We like this better than the rounded looks of the current ID.3 and ID.4.  2021 Volkswagen ID.Life concept View 20 Photos   BMW i Vision Circular is a 100% recycled and recyclable hatch Behold, the next BMW 3 Series! Just kidding. Besides this, BMW displayed cars in person for the first time that it had previously only unveiled on the interwebs, including the new 2 Series and revised iX3. It also unveiled some bikes. BMW i Vision Circular Concept View 63 Photos   Audi's GrandSphere concept was designed as a road-going private jet Does Audi know what a sphere is? Cause this isn't anything like one. Still, it's quite a handsome thing, and as one of three Sphere-branded concepts, previews the next direction of Audi design (which is pleasantly reminiscent of two-decade-old Mazda design). No complaints here. 2021 Audi GrandSphere concept View 26 Photos   Porsche Mission R is a 1,000-horsepower electric monster Just like the Mission E previewed the Taycan, this apparently previews another future car.

Gordon Murray, F1-driven production and .. the Pontiac Fiero

Gordon Murray's design and engineering chops are unquestionable. But does his carmaking approach owe something to the short-lived Pontiac Fiero, a scrappy little car program that emerged from GM against serious resistance? Murray had a Formula One career that ran from 1969 to 1991, with stints at Brabham ('69 to '86) and McLaren ('87-'91), that resulted in several shelves' worth of trophies for the cars he was instrumental in designing. He moved on to McLaren Cars, the consumer side of things, where, during his tenure from 1991 to 2004, he helped design the McLaren F1 and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, two cars that took learnings from his two decades in Formula One. What do all of these cars have in common? Three things: They are light. They were built in limited numbers. And they were (and are) exceedingly expensive—when the McLaren F1 debuted in 1994, it stickered at $815,000. Murray went on to establish Gordon Murray Design in 2007. GMD has created some interesting concept vehicles, such as the diminutive T.25 city car (94.5 inches long, 51.1 inches wide and 55.1 inches high), and the OX, a lightweight truck for the developing world that packs like an IKEA shelf and is working toward realization through a worthy crowdfunding campaign established by the Global Vehicle Trust. Now he has created a vehicle manufacturing company, Gordon Murray Automotive, that will use manufacturing methods that he developed under the moniker "iStream." Unlike a unibody, there are the "iFrame," a cage-like construction made with metallic components, and the "iPanels," which are composite. The panels aren't simply a decorative skin; they actually provide structure to the vehicle. Presumably this has something of the F1 monocoque about it. Going back to the three elements, (1) this arrangement results in a vehicle that can be comparatively light; (2) Murray has indicated that his manufacturing company will be doing limited-run production; and (3) to launch Gordon Murray Automotive they are going to be building a flagship model, about which Murray said, "With our first new car, we will demonstrate a return to the design and engineering principles that have made the McLaren F1 such an icon." Which seems to imply that it will be on the pricey side. According to the company's verbiage, "iStream forges an entirely new production method that defies conventionality with its Formula One-derived construction and materials technologies." It also sounds a whole lot like ...