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2015 Belgian Grand Prix is a return to scheduled programming

With summer intermission over, the second half of the Formula One season commenced in the Belgian countryside at Spa-Francorchamps. After qualifying, it looked a lot like the first half of the season with just a few minor changes. Lewis Hamilton was even more dominant in his Mercedes-AMG Petronas than usual, regularly taking half a second out of his teammate in just the middle sector of the circuit. Teammate Nico Rosberg tightened it up a tad for his final hot lap, but Hamilton still took pole by 0.45 seconds ahead of Rosberg in second. With his Williams back at a power track, Valtteri Bottas got himself up to third, although more than a second behind Hamilton. Romain Grosjean in the Lotus in fourth had his best qualifying performance since his fourth-place grid spot at the 2013 US Grand Prix. This was a huge boon for Lotus, the team facing another financial issue off track that threatened to have its cars impounded as soon as they left the circuit. Grosjean had to have his gearbox changed before the conclusion of six races, however, so the five-spot penalty meant he'd actually line up ninth for the race. Sergio Perez put the Sahara Force India in fifth, where we're more used to seeing his teammate Nico Hulkenberg, just ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the Infiniti Red Bull Racing in sixth. Felipe Massa got the second Williams in seventh, in front of the second Lotus of Pastor Maldonado in eighth. Then came the first and only Ferrari in the top ten, Sebastian Vettel qualifying ninth after a disappointing Saturday for the scuderia; teammate Kimi Raikkonen suffered gearbox issues and qualified way down in 16th. Carlos Sainz took tenth in the Toro Rosso. A new start procedure in Belgium meant drivers had to handle clutches on their own, without the engineers finely tuning bite points between the garage and the start line. That was in conjunction with another rule limiting the kinds of radio messages possible between engineers and drivers, aiming to put more of the car in the drivers' hands. After an aborted start when Hulkenberg's car quit while sitting on the grid, Hamilton made the most of the new procedure. His start wasn't amazing but he beat everyone else off the line, while those behind were alternately getting bogged down or leaping ahead. Midway through the first lap the top ten was Hamilton, Perez, Ricciardo, Bottas, Rosberg, Vettel, Maldonado, Grosjean, Massa, Marcus Ericsson. At the end of 43 laps, Hamilton would still be in the lead.

Recharge Wrap-up: BMW i3 goes against Mercedes B-Class ED, Tesla good for business

Car and Driver has published a comparison test pitting the 2014 BMW i3 against the 2014 Mercedes-Benz B-class Electric Drive. The test not only measured the quality of the driving experience, but also all the quantitative details that are especially important when looking at electric vehicles. For instance, the Benz's real-world MPGe surpassed its own rating, but it still couldn't match the BMW. The B-Class, though, won in the range department. We won't spoil all the results, or Car and Driver's overall pick, but you can head over to the article to find out for yourself. Tesla's expanding business, including the Gigafactory being built in Reno, NV, is encouraging growth in the locales and associated businesses. Some of Tesla's suppliers are talking of relocation, wanting to be close to the action stirred up by the electric automaker's expansion. It makes good business sense to be in the same neighborhood as Tesla. "We can react quickly, and our engineers are constantly working with Tesla," says Futuris General Manager Sam Coughlin. Brookings Institute fellow Jennifer Vey says, "The land around Tesla is being redeveloped and reimagined. It's a mash-up of an anchor campus, startups, housing and transit, in a physically compact area where companies can cluster and connect." Read more at San Jose Mercury News. EVs are doing even more to reduce energy use clean up the air, according to new analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists. According to findings, 60 percent of Americans now live in areas where EVs do more to reduce emissions than hybrids, up from 45 percent in 2012. Average electricity use is now 0.325 kWh per mile, down five percent from 2011. EV performance - in terms of mileage and emissions - is improving compared to traditional fuel vehicles, based on the sources of electricity in various regions. Read more from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Zipcar's carsharing network has launched in Paris. Zipcar is expanding across Europe, and has already established itself in Austria, Spain and the UK. According to Zipcar France's General Manager Etienne Hermite, "In a highly populated city, Zipcar's model has been proven to remove up to 15 personally owned vehicles from the road for each Zipcar in service, reducing parking demand, congestion and emissions." Zipcar European President Massimo Marsili hopes that most Parisians will eventually be just a short walk from a Zipcar.

2019 BMW M850i xDrive: How it compares on paper with other GT coupes

Although the hot new vehicles for the rich seem to mainly comprise SUVs and supercars, the neglected luxury GT coupe segment is starting to see some life again. The latest to add a spark to this set is the 2019 BMW M850i xDrive. It goes on sale later this year, and revives the 8 Series that's been dead since the 1990s. The first version available to Americans will be one with a twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8, with other versions likely following. Before it launches, we wanted to get a lay of the grand-touring land and see how the new BMW stacks up to the competition in performance, practicality and price. While some of these models have higher-performance or more-affordable iterations, we picked the versions that would be the closest match to this 8 Series model. They include the 2019 Lexus LC 500, 2018 Mercedes-Benz SL 550, 2018 Mercedes-Benz S 560 Coupe and the 2018 Maserati GranTurismo. We will also provide some short summaries on our experiences with these cars, but to get a full picture of each model, be sure to check out their full reviews. And if you want to compare any of these cars with models you don't see here, be sure to try out our car comparison tool. Engines, transmissions and performance On paper, the BMW M850i xDrive is clearly the performer of the group. It has the most power and torque at 523 horsepower and 553 pound-feet. Coupled with all-wheel-drive and an eight-speed automatic, the car is able to overcome its relatively portly 4,478-pound curb weight to hit 60 mph in a scant 3.6 seconds. That's more than half a second quicker than the lightest car in the group, the Mercedes-Benz SL550, which weighs 4,012 pounds. The other three vehicles are in the low- to mid-4-second range to 60 mph. Though the Maserati is the slowest to 60 mph, it does boast the highest top speed of 186 mph. The M850i and SL 550 are electronically limited to 155 mph, while the Lexus is limited to 168 mph. The Mercedes S 560 has the lowest top speed at an electronically limited 130 mph. View 52 Photos Of interest is that there's a 50/50 split among these cars between using a pair of turbos, and having none at all. The BMW and Mercedes resort to forced induction, whereas the Lexus and Maserati choose to stay naturally aspirated. This is likely why the Germans break 500 pound-feet of torque, while the others don't make it to 400. Also interesting is the spread of gear quantity. The Maserati has just six ratios to choose from, and the Lexus has a whopping 10.