2012 Mercedes-benz Sls Amg Sls Amg on 2040-cars

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Daimler could sell off Li-Tec's EV battery business

Five-plus years may have been about enough time for Daimler AG to know whether it wanted to be in the battery-pack production business. The Mercedes-Benz parent may stop making electric-vehicle batteries and ultimately sell its Li-Tec battery-cell factory in Germany within two years, according to Bloomberg News which cites Manager Magazin. The beneficiary may be LG Electronics, which would likely take over battery-production duties for models such as Daimler's Smart ED battery-electric vehicle. Daimler is taking a number of steps to improve profit margins, which are thinner than those of its German rivals like BMW. Like its German competition, the company has lagged behind companies such as Nissan, Renault and Tesla Motors in terms of aggressively pursuing growth via plug-in vehicle sales. Daimler spokesman Hendrik Sackmann, in an e-mail to AutoblogGreen, would only say that the battery business is growing "rapidly" and that Li-Tec is developing "according to our plans." "Regarding Li-Tec, we are working on a concept for the future line-up," he added. "The battery cells for the successor of the Smart electric drive won't be provided by Li-Tec." Daimler in 2008 launched Li-Tec as a joint venture with Evonik, though Daimler recently put plans together to buy out Evonik's 50-percent share of Li-Tec, Bloomberg reported last month. Evonik's role was manufacturing electrodes and separators for batteries. Daimler also said last fall that it was looking to cooperate more extensively with Tesla in regards to electric vehicle development. The two companies first said they'd work together in 2009. Featured Gallery 2013 Smart Fortwo ED View 16 Photos News Source: Bloomberg NewsImage Credit: Daimler Green Plants/Manufacturing Mercedes-Benz battery

Brabus 800 Roadster is a power-mad aristocrat

If we're being completely honest, we haven't exactly been in love with the aesthetics of the sixth-generation Mercedes-Benz SL-Class. It's mostly a front-end issue, with its glowering eagle-eye headlamps and upright, dinner-plate-sized Three-Pointed Star coming across to us as overwrought. That's particularly troublesome for a roadster whose history has of the most elegant designs of all time in its back catalog. Somehow, the new R231 generation's brash visuals seem more at home on this Brabus 800 Roadster to us.
That's probably because the high-dollar German tuner has turned up the wick on the SL's visuals even further, with carbon fiber bodywork, a more aggressive aero kit, matte hood scoop and complex two-finish wheels. It's all-the-way committed to its brashness, in other words - and justifiably so. Anything with 800 horsepower and 1,047 pound-feet of torque has earned the right to look however it wants, right?
Brabus started with the SL65 and its not-exactly-underpowered 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12, and went to town, fitting their own turbocharger and intercooler system, along with a less-restrictive exhaust system with driver-selectable sound levels and new engine electronics. The result is a 3.7-second 0-62 mph time, an electronically limited top whack of 217 mph... and one seriously compromised toupée.

Mercedes reveals F 015 Luxury in Motion concept at CES [w/videos]

Whatever you think of the idea, autonomous vehicles are emerging as the way of the future in the automotive industry, and Mercedes is showing its vision for that driverless destiny with the F 015 concept at CES this week. Billed as Luxury in Motion, the F 015 first popped onto our radar back in October when it was snapped under wraps and then again when the German automaker released the first teaser image previewing its silhouette, but has now taken center stage at the electronics expo in Las Vegas. So what is it exactly, you ask? Well, aside from being entirely autonomous – bringing together a suite of advanced technologies to take the driver out of the equation – it's also big. It's marginally larger than an S-Class, in fact, and with a more spacious one-box form that turns the cabin into a rolling living room. That's where you'll find four individual bucket seats that swivel towards each other, and pivot towards the giant doors for ease of ingress and egress. The doors open a full 90 degrees and the back ones swing suicide-style like on a Rolls-Royce, but without a B-pillar to get in the way. An array of six display screens turn the cabin – clad in wood, aluminum, glass and leather – into an all-enveloping "digital arena," with gesture-based controls, touch-sensitive screens and eye-tracking technology. Made of carbon fiber, aluminum and high-strength steel, the concept is some 40-percent lighter than a conventional automobile of its size. And while Mercedes isn't saying exactly what would provide the motivation (and to what effect), it does state that "the bodyshell of the F 015 Luxury in Motion was designed to allow the impact-protected integration of an electric drive system with fuel cell." The concept follows the debut of the Future Truck 2025 concept big-rig at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hannover a few months ago, and is earmarked to make transportation through and between the world's growing cities a smoother, safer and less human-intensive ordeal. Whether that's the kind of future you want to live in is another matter, but you can scope it out in the videos and press release below and in the extensive gallery of images above for a closer look. 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.