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2015 Spanish F1 Grand Prix makes its Deutsche mark

The first race of the European Formula One season inaugurates the second phase of the Championship. Teams overhaul their cars with the big updates they've been working on since Australia, and at the end of The Battle of Spain we find out how the positions on the field have changed. Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg brought a big update to his psychology, straight-up beating teammate Lewis Hamilton to take his first pole position of the season. Mercedes owns the front row and Ferrari maintains its status as primary challenger, Sebastian Vettel lining up in third. Williams proved it's been hitting the books to do better in class, though, Valtteri Bottas slotting into fourth. And Toro Rosso's visit to a track that rewards strong aero rewarded them with the best team grid position since the Italian Grand Prix in 2008: Carlos Sainz secured fifth, ahead of Max Verstappen in sixth. Kimi Raikkonen's bout of Saturday woes – it seems the Finn is always handicapped by lots of tiny issues – continued in Barcelona with one of his sets of prime tires getting cooked by malfunctioning tire warmers. He recovered well enough to take seventh on the grid, but he's got some strong competition ahead of him. He led three other drivers in the Continuous Issues department, Daniil Kvyat unable to wrestle his Infiniti Red Bull Racing higher than eighth, Williams driver Felipe Massa getting it wrong in Turn 3 to fall five places behind his teammate Bottas, and Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull enduring another engine change and sloppy car behavior to get tenth. And while it turned out to be a steady race a little rough around the edges, the positions on the battlefield just might have changed. A little. Of the 66 laps in the race we might have seen Rosberg for three of them – maybe. The German got a smashing start, had a clear lead into Turn 1, and after that we checked in occasionally during his two pit stops and again at the checkered flag. He owned the entire weekend the way we're used to seeing his teammate do, and the cameras left him alone to run his race. No one got within seven seconds of him during the first third, and as the pit stop strategies played out that cushion grew. He finished seventeen seconds ahead of Hamilton, and 45 seconds ahead of third-placed Vettel. Hamilton, on the back foot all three days, stumbled out of the gate.

Recharge Wrap-up: Toyota FCV Rally Car To Compete, Barra bullish on Chevy Volt

The Toyota FCV will compete in the last stage of the 2014 Japanese Rally Championship. The sport-tuned hydrogen-powered car will tackle the 177-mile Shinshiro Rally on November 1 and 2, emitting no greenhouse gases in the process. The rally course will help prove the safety of the vehicle before it goes on sale in Japan in the next several months. The Toyota FCV, rumored to be called "Mirai" in Japan, will begin sales there before April, according to Toyota, and in the summer in the US and Europe. Read more in the press release below. Carsharing is becoming more popular, and more visible, throughout the world, including the US. According to WardsAuto columnist John McElroy, 18 percent of US drivers have used some sort of carsharing service. Additionally, he says 60 percent of Americans are familiar with Zipcar and Uber. Mercedes' Harald Kroeger says promotions like free parking for carshares in Stuttgart are encouraging growth for Daimler's carsharing service, Car2go. Read more at WardsAuto. Ethanol is being help up by rail transport, according to ethanol producer Green Plains. More and more stations are carrying E15 blend gasoline, but grain producers have complained that crude oil is given higher priority by the rail lines shipping it, which rail companies deny. Union Pacific and BNSF Railway say they are stepping up service to make sure that ethanol can be shipped reliably to customers. Read more at Omaha World-Herald. General Motors "has placed a significant bet [on] the electrification of the automobile," says CEO Mary Barra. In a speech to the Detroit Economic Club this week, she spoke about the Chevrolet Volt, and its importance to GM's future. While Barra admits the Volt's success has been "not everything we wanted," it has provided experience, and shows that EVs have "an important role in the future of GM." The new Volt is more refined, stores more energy, has longer range, uses less fuel and is a big investment for Michigan. She announced that the new Volt's electric drive system will be built in Warren, and that all of its major components will be made in Michigan. "Silicon Valley doesn't have a corner on the market for innovation, creativity and drive," says Barra. "These qualities exist here – in this region – as well." See the speech's highlight video and read more in the transcript below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Daimler wants to cut EV research spending as it preps EQ

Daimler AG is hoping that the legwork it's done preparing its EQ electric-vehicle sub-brand will allow it to slightly reduce annual spending on plug-in vehicle technology. The Mercedes-Benz parent is looking to cut electric-vehicle research-and-development spending to $13.2 billion in 2017 from about $15.4 billion this year, Bloomberg News says, citing comments Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche made to journalists in Hamburg, Germany, this week. Daimler's annual R&D spending is up from about $11.5 billion in both 2013 and 2014. Like its competitors – for example Audi and BMW and its i sub-brand – Daimler is aiming to have as much as 25 percent of its annual vehicle sales be battery-electric within the next 10 years as part of an effort to meet stricter greenhouse-gas emissions mandates in both Europe and North America. In fact, Mercedes-Benz and Daimler's Smart division collectively have at least 10 electric-vehicle models on their slates during the next few years, though Zetsche said the German automaker will continue to find ways to make its gas- and diesel-powered vehicles more fuel-efficient as well. Daimler introduced a concept version of the Generation EQ electric SUV at the Paris Motor Show late last month. It comes powered by two electric motors and is made up of a combination of steel, aluminum, and carbon fiber, and boasts a 311-mile single-charge range (on the relatively lenient European testing standards). The SUV also has 402 horsepower, and the ability to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than five seconds. Zetsche said at the time that Daimler was prepping powertrains and platforms for electric sedans, wagons, coupes, and roadsters, in addition to SUVs. Additionally, Daimler's Deutsche Accumotive unit is producing the lithium-ion battery packs for the EQs. Featured Gallery Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ Concept: Paris 2016 View 19 Photos News Source: Bloomberg News via Automotive News-sub.req. Green Mercedes-Benz smart Electric eq mercedes eq