Grimes B-3307 Aircraft Navigation Lights (pair)(3198) on 2040-parts.com

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.

Geely to enter to US market with help from Volvo

Geely Automobile Holdings told reporters in Hong Kong on Aug. 23 that it plans to start exporting cars to the United States with help from Volvo. Geely is hoping the Swedish company’s reputation will help it succeed in new markets after the firm stumbled on its first trip to the States at the Detroit auto show in 2006.

MINI Coupe Concept Photo Image Gallery +Video

The MINI Coupe Concept photo gallery and video Well, BMW has gone a bit berserk on the photos they’ve sent us – plus a video of the Coupe – so we thought it was probably sensible to put this lot up separately from the main story and press release. It seems highly unlikely that with this much effort the MINI Coupe is going to stay a concept for very long. For us, it is the first sensible extension of the whole MINI concept and should be a big seller – but it won’t be cheap – think in the region of £30k.