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Mercedes-Maybach Pullman is the luxury car for the discerning dictator

For decades, Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes-Maybach cars have been the ride of choice for leaders across the globe, presidents, ambassadors, dictators and despots alike. The Pullman model — a long-wheelbase six-seat variant — has been particularly popular with this select clientele. This week, the German automaker announced the latest version of the car, the Mercedes-Maybach Pullman S650. Essentially, this is a stretched version of the V12-powered Maybach with two rear-facing seats just behind the front row. Mercedes is calling this vis-a-vis seating. There's also a partitioning glass between the front seats and the rear cabin. This is of course to help prevent the chauffeur from learning and spilling any state secrets or plans for plans for secret moon bases. New for this model is a front-facing camera for rear-seat passengers. This allows occupants to watch for any oncoming obstacles, barricades or road blocks. Visually, there's no mistaking the Pullman for another Maybach or really anything else on the road. The car is 21.3-feet long, 4.5-feet longer than the standard Maybach or roughly the size of two and a half Smart Fortwo placed bumper-to-bumper. The requisite 20-inch 10-hole wheels are present and the standard pinstripe Maybach grille has been updated with a slightly new design. The car only comes in S650 trim, meaning it's powered by a 630 horsepower 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12. As expected, the Mercedes-Maybach Pullman isn't cheap. Orders have started, but be prepared to shell out at least $615,000 before adding any custom touches. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2019 Mercedes-Maybach Pullman View 10 Photos Image Credit: Daimler Design/Style Maybach Mercedes-Benz Luxury Special and Limited Editions Sedan mercedes-maybach mercedes-maybach pullman

Electric Hummer is official, and Tesla's got momentum | Autoblog Podcast #612

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor Alex Kierstein and Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. They start things off with a discussion of the week's news: GMC is launching an electric Hummer truck with a Super Bowl ad, and Tesla was profitable in Q4, sending its stock soaring. Then they talk about what they've been driving, including a super badass Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, the Kia Telluride and their long-term Volvo S60 PHEV. There's no "Spend My Money" segment this week, so send in your questions for future podcast episodes. Autoblog Podcast #612 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Hummer returns as electric GMC truck Further reading: Grappling with the dark side of EVs Tesla profitable for second straight quarter Cars we're driving: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 3500XD Kia Telluride (whose safety tech won Autoblog's 2020 Technology of the Year Award) Long-term Volvo S60 T8 update Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Mercedes-Benz Concept IAA is a modern silver aero

While we English-speaking folk call it the Frankfurt Motor Show, our German friends call this week's bi-annual confab the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung, or IAA. At first glance, then, you might think Mercedes-Benz named its Frankfurt concept, the Concept IAA, after the show it'd debut at. But, the Concept IAA isn't named for the show. It's actually an abbreviation for Intelligent Aerodynamic Automobile, and it's very aerodynamic indeed. This four-door coupe can transform, while moving, from its sedan-like design mode to an ultra-sleek, gas-powered fish of a car. This aerodynamic mode has a drag coefficent of just 0.19. That's sleeker than a Tesla Model S, and it ties the rating of the General Motors EV1 electric car. In fact, it's very nearly as aerodynamic as the Volkswagen XL1. The IAA can transform automatically at 80 kilometers per hour (about 50 miles per hour) or via the press of a button. When it enters an aerodynamic mode, eight segments at the back of the car extend out, adding over 15 inches to the overall vehicle length, effectively extending its already tear-dropped-shaped tail. And that's just the most visible aero aid. At the front of the car, flaps in the bumper extend out nearly an inch, while there's a smaller extender in the back bumper. These serve to keep air away from the wheel arches, where turbulence can become an issue. Of course, Mercedes has thought of this, too, fitting "Active Rims" that "alter their cupping from 55 mm to zero," whatever that means. There's even an active aero aid inside the front bumper, where a louver extends backward by 2.3 inches to smooth out the air traveling underneath the car. Outside of its super-slippery mode, the IAA is a relatively handsome four-door coupe, featuring the kind of plunging roofline that wouldn't look out of place on the company's pioneering CLS-Class. The interior is certainly worthy of the CLS, too. It's home to gorgeous white leather and touch-based controls, and in general, looks very luxurious. Mercedes' dogged pursuit of aerodynamics does not mean that the Concept IAA is some gutless ecomobile. Under the skin is a gas-powered, plug-in hybrid system that produces up to 279 horsepower and allows the sleek sedan to hit 155 mph. Its all-electric range is based, of course, on what mode its body is in. It's most impressive in aero mode, where it will cover 41 miles on a single charge. Switch over to design mode, and that figure drops slightly to 38.5 miles.