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Recharge Wrap-up: Porsche 911 hybrid possible, Ecocruise EVs coming soon

The next-generation Porsche 911 could use hybrid power, according to Porsche CEO Matthias Muller. "There is no reason against it and we will see if we have some reasons to do it," Muller says of the model due around 2018. He also suggests that hybrid technology could eventually make its way into all Porsche model lines, but that the Boxster and Cayman would first get four-cylinder versions. Muller cites carbon emissions and "sportiness" as reasons to use hybrid power, pointing to the 918 Spyder as a good example of both. Read more at Car Advice. A B-Class F-Cell from the Mercedes-Benz fleet has hit a benchmark of 300,000 kilometers (about 186,411 miles) in everyday use. The achievement won Daimler an "f-cell award" for hydrogen fuel cell technology and innovation. The 300+ fuel cell cars in the Daimler fleet have driven a collective 9 million-plus kilometers (more than 5.5 million miles). The information gathered from this testing is being used to improve development as the company looks toward expanding commercialization of fuel cell cars. "We have clearly demonstrated that the fuel cell electric drive is ready for the road," says Professor Herbert Kohler of Daimler. "The last hurdles we will overcome in intensive cross-industry and cross-border teamwork." Read more in the press release below. A company called Ecocruise has new EVs coming out soon. Along with electric scooters and service vehicles, Ecocruise develops street-legal neighborhood electric vehicles like the three-wheeled EZip-3, the four-wheeled EZip-4, and the fun looking Cruser Sport (see a prototype in the video below). The EVs are scheduled to go on sale in January of 2015, which is right around the corner. Ecocruise was started after the founder of Kasea Motorsports decided to switch to electric vehicles with the goal of offering providing affordable emissions-free driving. Learn more about Ecocruise and its vehicles at the company's website. The new EU Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) does little to discourage dirty fuels like tar sands and coal-to-liquid, says Transport & Environment (T&E). The FQD requires suppliers to reduce greenhouse gas intensity for transport fuel in the EU by six percent by 2020. The much-delayed FQD doesn't do as much as it could, though, say critics, and it doesn't label dirtier fuel sources as such despite the urging of scientists. T&E, an organization focused on cleaning up EU transport, blames Canada, the US and Big Oil.

Submit your questions for Autoblog Podcast #325 LIVE!

We're set to record Autoblog Podcast #325 tonight, and you can drop us your questions and comments via our Q&A module below. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our UStream (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #325
Twin-turbo Cadillac CTS coming

XCAR marks 20-year anniversary of Senna's passing with Mercedes 190E Cosworth

While the automotive world is focusing on the twentieth anniversary of Ayrton Senna's death, there was much, much more to the legendary driver than his untimely passing at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
XCAR has the story of a younger Senna, who, by a stroke of luck, found himself matched up against a veritable dream team of nine Formula One champions, not to mention a cadre of German touring car aces. A "probably still pissed (drunk)" James Hunt, hard-driving Niki Lauda and future champion and rival Alain Prost, were in attendance for the one-off, spec race, which was put on by Mercedes-Benz, in honor of the opening of the Nürburgring's Grand Prix circuit. And Senna was on hand with the explicit goal of besting them all.
Each driver was handed a lightly modified, but brand-new 190E 2.3-16 Cosworth, a car that can best be though of as the distant ancestor of the lovable C63 AMG. As for the race itself, well, it was sort of like an introduction of what the sport could come to expect from the Brazilian.