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Recharge Wrap-up: Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive is a rock star, FedEx tests electric trucks

The Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive is in a new music video for I Lived by OneRepublic. The band's singer, Ryan Tedder, has also been brought on as a brand ambassador for the German automaker. OneRepublic will also be performing the song at the Mercedes-Benz Media Night on the eve of the Paris Motor Show. No word if Mercedes plans to offer hordes of screaming teenage fans as an option package with the B-Class Electric Drive. See the video (the car shows up around the four-minute mark) or read more in the press release below. FedEx is testing converted electric delivery trucks with diesel range extenders. Looking to shrink its carbon footprint, the company has converted a handful of trucks as part of a pilot program. In addition to battery packs, each truck is equipped with diesel turbine generators (supplied by Ian Wright's company, Wrightspeed) to provide electricity when the battery is depleted. Because the diesel motors aren't powering the vehicle directly, they can continuously run at their most efficient speed, making the trucks about twice as efficient as those powered by traditional means. Read more at Wired. Ford's new aluminum-bodied F-150 will be 5 to 20 percent more efficient, the company says. The fuel economy gains depend on the particular version of the truck, but the biggest improvement will likely come from the 3.5-liter V6 and the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V-6. Automotive News predicts the F-150 SFE to be rated at 21 mpg city/28 highway/23 combined, which are identical figures to the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel. The result could be a noteworthy fuel economy battle between Ford and Ram trucks. Learn more at Automotive News. The US Department of Energy is providing $25 million in funding toward reducing the price of algal biofuels. The goal is to get the price of these renewable fuels below $5 per gasoline gallon equivalent (gge) by 2019, and less than $3 per gge by 2030. The money will fund projects to develop better algal cultures that produce biofuel and other useful bioproducts, and projects to boost biomass productivity. The DOE says it wants to help develop a "bioeconomy" that provides jobs, helps the environment and ensures energy security. Read more at Energy.gov. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Daimler: 2017 the right time to launch our hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle

Zero-emissions vehicle development has never focused purely on off-the-line acceleration. So when a research executive with Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler says it's Okay that companies like Toyota and Hyundai will have a head start selling hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, it's somewhat believable. But is Daimler really fine with being two years behind? It appears so. Daimler plans on debuting its first fuel-cell vehicle in 2017, Automotive News says, citing an interview Automobilwoche had with Daimler's corporate research chief Herbert Kohler. The German automaker estimated about a decade ago that it would be able to get fuel-cell production costs down to an "acceptable" level in 2012, but it turns out that estimate was about five years too aggressive. Daimler originally started leasing out a limited number of its F-Cell hydrogen vehicles in the US for $849 a month, though later brought that down to $599 a month. Daimler says it received a boost in its effort to accelerate fuel-cell powertrain development when it reached an agreement early last year with Nissan and Ford to work together on speeding up relevant powertrain technology. While Toyota's first fuel-cell vehicle in Japan is priced at almost $70,000 (before big government incentives kick in), Kohler says Daimler's first fuel-cell vehicle will be priced similar to a hybrid vehicle. Of course, that's a Mercedes-Benz hybrid we're talking about here, but still. Related Gallery Mercedes-Benz F-Cell View 9 Photos News Source: Automotive News - sub. req. Green Mercedes-Benz Hydrogen Cars h2

Mercedes widens luxury sales gap on strong early CLA demand

Mercedes-Benz CLA sales have been booming, with the Stuttgart-based manufacturer moving 2,300 of the sleek four-doors in its first week on sale. That is astonishing. Mercedes moved nearly twice as many CLAs (which start at $29,900) in one week than Jaguar, a brand that is on a very solid roll, sold in all of September. Ignoring the price differences between the Jag line and the CLA, that is still wildly impressive.
Mercedes has been pushing the CLA in television ads, using a shortened version of its Super Bowl spot, which starred William Dafoe, Usher and Kate Upton. "As the bargain entrance into the Mercedes portfolio, we weren't sure how luxury buyers would react," Kelly Blue Book auto analyst Alec Gutierrez told Bloomberg.
The CLA push was just part of MB's 6.7-percent increase in September sales, which were also helped along by a 17-percent jump in E-Class sales. That surge has allowed Mercedes to widen its 2013 sales lead over its rival, BMW, to 2,491 cars, according to Bloomberg. If CLA sales continue at this rate, we can only expect that margin to grow.