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New Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive goes in to production

The first Mercedes B-Class ED (pictured) rolls off the production line in Rastatt With the BMW i3 grabbing headlines – and flying out of showrooms – as BMW’s first electric car, Mercedes need to play catch-up with a convincing EV of their own, and that’s the new B-Class Electric Drive – an EV version of the regular B-Class – which has now gone in to production in Germany. Built alongside regular ICE versions of the B-Class at Mercedes’ Rastatt Plant, the B-Class ED (Electric Drive) looks practically the same as its more conventionally powered siblings – although the front bumper does look a bit different – and has an electric motor good for 177 bhp and 250 lb/ft of torque, can manage a scoot to 62 mph in 7.9 seconds and has a range of up to 124 miles. The range – at least the quoted range – is a chunk better than the BMW i3′s and on a par with the latest Nissan LEAF, thanks to EV technology provided by Tesla, and the wrapping of an EV drivetrain in a conventional series production car could appeal to more buyers than the ‘statement’ design of the BMW i3.

Spyker stretches the C8 Laviolette to make the Spyker C8 Aileron

But those problems faded last year when Spyker got solid investment from a Russian banker. Which means Spyker can once more push forward after a period of struggle, although what impact the crisis engulfing the car market in general will have is anybody’s guess. Spyker C8 Aileron - a stretched C8 Laviolette We had half expected the story at Geneva for Spyker to be the reveal of the Spyker SUV – the Spyker D12 Peking-Paris – in something close to production ready state.

Join CAR’s Twitter group for up-to-the-minute news

CAR twitter By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 18 March 2009 10:45 Join CAR’s Twitter feed for instant chat, comment and rumination from the CAR team. We’re experimenting with the new social media tool and using it to newscast breaking news, thoughts and ideas from our team of journalists 24/7. You can follow our Tweets by clicking here – just click on follow CARmagazinetim to access our feed.