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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.

2016 Mercedes-Maybach S600 offers the plutocratic life for $189,350*

Mercedes-Benz has officially announced pricing on its ultra-luxurious Maybach S600, and just as we feared, you'll probably need to be a Saudi oil sheikh to afford one. Prices start at $189,350, excluding a paltry $925 destination charge. That princely sum does not, however, make the Maybach version of the latest S-Class the company's most expensive sedan. That honor still goes to the ridiculously powerful and absurdly priced S65 AMG, which starts at $222,000. The new model's price easily surpasses that of the vehicle it's based on, though. Mercedes old flagship sedan, the S600, starts at $166,900. Of course, you do get quite a lot of kit for spending an extra $23,000, besides the C-pillar-mounted Maybach badges and the extra 7.9 inches of wheelbase. Upgrades include a re-engineered interior that should be quieter than even the tomb-silent standard S-Class. Even the seats, which are lined in extremely supple leather, are noise insulated. Speaking of those seats and leather, the Maybach trim should include a fairly extensive range of different woods and leathers, for that personal touch. Beyond that, Maybach-exclusive features include a new fragrance for Mercedes' silly Air-Balance system, as well as a pair of silver-plated champagne flutes. What are your thoughts? Does the Maybach S600's extravagant price tag seem worth it (we're leaning towards yes)? Have your say in Comments. Mercedes-Benz Announces Pricing On All-New 2016MY Mercedes-Maybach S600 Segment-Leading Flagship to Start at $189,350* January 16, 2015 - MONTVALE, NJ The S-Class range has a long established tradition of setting the benchmark in the luxury segment, and the launch of the highly-anticipated new Mercedes-Maybach S600 in April will further assert its leadership position in the U.S. market. Priced from USD $189,350, this exceptional addition to the product lineup offers more than 8 inches in total length when compared to the standard S-Class and features a suite of intelligent safety technologies and exclusive appointments that complete the opulent package. The Mercedes-Maybach S-Class seamlessly melds the perfection of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class with the incredible heritage and prestige of the Maybach nameplate. Mercedes-Maybach is not an equipment line. It is a sub-brand that introduces Mercedes-Benz vehicles in an even more exclusive form.

When Android Automotive goes in the dash, Google wins — and automakers lose data

You've gotta hand it to Google for the way the Silicon Valley tech giant has made indelible inroads into the car on multiple fronts. The most obvious is with its pioneering self-driving car technology that's caused car companies to get their act together on autonomous vehicles — and also collaborate with Google. Google has more directly extended its influence and data-mining capabilities into the car with its Android Auto smartphone-projection platform that most major automakers have adopted along with Apple's CarPlay. And now it's preparing to dig even deeper into dashboards by deploying its open-source operating system, Android Automotive, beginning with Audi and Volvo. Volvo recently announced that its next-generation Sensus infotainment system will run Android Automotive as an OS and include Google's Play Store for cloud-based content, Maps for navigation and Google Assistant for voice recognition, which can even command a car's climate control. By embedding Google in the dash, Volvo says owners will get an improved connected experience. "Bringing Google services into Volvo cars will accelerate innovation in connectivity and boost our development in applications and connected services," Volvo senior vice president of R&D Henrik Green said in a statement. "Soon, Volvo drivers will have direct access to thousands of in-car apps that make daily life easier and the connected in-car experience more enjoyable." Having Android Automotive onboard could benefit drivers — and provide a big win for Google, since it opens a deep and lucrative new data-mining vein for the company. But it's a wave of a white flag for car companies when it comes to delivering their own cloud-based content and services. It also represents a massive data giveaway and, for Audi, a reversal of earlier reservations about letting Google get too much access to car data. Not long after Android Auto and Apple CarPlay were introduced in 2014 and most automakers eagerly embraced the technologies, several German automakers second-guessed their decision when they realized what was at stake: data. At a conference in Berlin in 2015, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said car owners "want to be in control of their data, and not subject to monitoring." A few months earlier, Stadler stated that "the data that we collect is our data and not Google's.