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.

Greg Migliore: Behind the scenes at the Detroit auto show

Yes, that's a shot of Detroit. In January. Inside Cobo Hall.

Pagani Huayra Roadster still 2 years away

The Pagani Huayra Roadster is still 2 years away (Coupe pictured) The Pagani Huayra arrived three years ago as Pagani’s replacement for the Zonda (in fact, is was three years ago in January we exclusively revealed the first ever Huayra photo), and despite assurances from Pagani that a Huayra Roadster would arrive by 2014 there’s still no sign of it. We did have a little moment of anticipation that the Huayra Roadster was on its way when Pagani teased something new for Geneva 2013, but that turned out to be nothing more than a (posh) new set of speakers for the Huayra Coupe. In fact, the Sonus Faber Sound System for the Huayra Roadster is about the only Pagani news on anything new we’ve had in the three years since the Huayra arrived – although there have been plenty of problems for the Huayra along the way.