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Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury fully revealed, tea set and all

Mercedes has officially unveiled its Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury concept following a leak of most of the details last week. As we learned last week, the unusual looking sedan-SUV crossbreed is fully electric with four motors producing a whopping 750 horsepower. Combined with an 80 kWh battery, Mercedes estimates it should have a range of over 200 miles on the European test cycle. It also can handle extremely fast charging from DC chargers outputting 350 kW. Mercedes claims this allows it to gain 60 miles of range in 5 minutes. But there are a number of interesting details that weren't leaked. Many of them have to do with the car's Chinese inspiration, which is perhaps not that surprising for a car that makes its debut in China. The body style is the first influence, which Mercedes says combines the sedan and SUV, the best-selling car classes in the country. On the inside, there are a pair of cues inspired by China. The first is the ebony wood trim that Mercedes calls "Magic Wood." The company says it's very similar to that used in Chinese furniture. In the back, between the two highly adjustable white leather seats with rose-gold stitching, is a complete tea set. And not only does it contain all the containers for tea, but it actually has a variety of teas on offer. They're there to be used in conjunction with the car's relaxation modes that combine lighting, music and scents to set the mood. It's hard to say whether this concept will spawn a production model, since the body style is unlike any currently offered by Mercedes-Benz. But with the crossover SUV market staying hot, and competitors such as Audi and BMW bringing out extra-large SUVs, we wouldn't be surprised if Mercedes eventually offers at least a Maybach-level version of its GLS-Class, if not its own model. Related Video:

Child cobalt miners: Automakers pledge ethical minerals sourcing for EVs

BERLIN - Leading carmakers including Volkswagen and Toyota pledged on Wednesday to uphold ethical and socially responsible standards in their purchases of minerals for an expected boom in electric vehicle production. Demand for minerals such as cobalt, graphite and lithium is forecast to soar in the coming years as governments crack down on vehicle pollution and carmakers step up their investments in electric models. To cover its plans for more than 80 new models by 2025, Volkswagen alone is looking for partners in China, Europe and North America to provide battery cells and related technology worth more than 50 billion euros ($59 billion). Talks with major cobalt producers, including Glencore, at VW's Wolfsburg headquarters last week ended without a deal. More than half of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country racked by political instability and legal opacity, and where child labor is used in mines. On Wednesday, a group of 10 leading passenger-car and truck manufacturers announced an initiative to jointly identify and address ethical, environmental, human and labor rights issues in raw materials sourcing. The partnership dubbed "Drive Sustainability" consists of VW, Toyota Motor Europe, Ford, Daimler, BMW, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo Cars and truckmakers Scania and Volvo. The alliance "will assess the risks posed by the top raw materials (such as mica, cobalt, rubber and leather) in the automotive sector," said Stefan Crets of the CSR Europe business network. "This will allow Drive Sustainability to identify the most impactful activities to pursue" to address issues within the supply chain.Reporting by Andreas Cremer.Related Video: Image Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images Green BMW Ford Honda Jaguar Land Rover Mercedes-Benz Automakers Toyota Volkswagen Volvo Green Automakers Green Culture Electric Scania ethics mining

World Car Of The Year down to its final four

Judges for the World Car of the Year Award have narrowed down the finalists to just four vehicles. Out of a total of 42 entries, only the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Porsche Boxster/Cayman, Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ/Toyota GT-86 and Volkswagen Golf remain standing. For Volkswagen, this marks the second consecutive year the company has had an entry among the finalists, and the fourth time since 2009. In order to qualify, a vehicle must be on sale on two continents during the span of time between January 1, 2013 and May 30, 2013. A panel of 66 journalists from 23 countries then vote on the finalists.
Three vehicles have made the cut for the last round of voting on the 2013 World Performance Car as well, with the Cayman/Boxster and FR-S/BRZ/GT-86 running against the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta. Meanwhile, the Renault Zoe, Tesla Model S and Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid are duking it out for the World Green Car Award. Finally, the World Car Design of the Year Award is up for grabs between the Aston Martin Vanquish, Jaguar F-Type, and the Mazda6. Check out the full press release below. Overall winners will be presented at the 2013 New York Auto Show.