Mercedes reportedly scraps hybrid plan for B-Class E-Cell Plus EV, going all-in on electrons with Tesla

Mercedes' plans for a B-Class E-Cell Plus plug-in hybrid might headed for a change of direction. Take this all with a spoonful of NaCl, but looks like an all-electric powertrain made by none other than Tesla will be installed in the EV. As Autoblog Green notes, an anonymous spokesperson has reportedly claimed that the system switch-up is being made due to economics -- higher rebates and incentives are possible for zero-emission vehicles in the EV's US target market. No technical details were given on the new powertrain, but the original idea was to have a Volt-like 138-horsepower electric powerplant for the B-Class compact, with a 67-horsepower gas engine backing it up. At the very least, a collaboration between the two companies would make sense, since the Stuttgart automaker is effectively a five percent stakeholder in Tesla. So if you've been holding out for an EV with the Merc touch, check the source for the details.

Mercedes reportedly scraps hybrid plan for B-Class E-Cell Plus EV, going all-in on electrons with Tesla originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Jul 2012 03:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Dan Neil eats crow, donates $1,000 to charity on behalf of Tesla CEO Elon Musk

Filed under: Sedan, Plants/Manufacturing, Celebrities, Tesla, Luxury

Dan Neil, he of the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism fame, has made a decent living peddling his automotive snark, and for good reason, as Neil is unquestionably one of the best and funniest at what we do. Tesla CEO Elon Musk - also an outspoken salesman of some merit - differs from Neil in one primary respect, which is that Musk is worth some $2 billion and thus doesn't have to drive someone else's cars around.

When these two agreed to resolve their disagreement over Tesla's seemingly pie-in-the-sky production plans by means of a wager, those of us familiar with both affable egos were deeply amused. Neil most certainly did not expect to lose his end of the bet: That Tesla would fail in its promise to deliver its second model on time. What with the prevailing view at the time being that Tesla's game plan was merely to get bought out by some larger entity and that the Model S was just vaporware, a means to that end, we probably would have gone with Neil had someone forced us to take sides. Of course, we can all learn a lesson here, which is that you don't bet against the guy who owns the casino.

Musk and Tesla clearly kept up their end of the bargain, so Neil's public mea culpa ran in Friday's Wall Street Journal. He states that he's made his $1,000 contribution to Doctors Without Borders, the penalty for the loss being far less than Musk's promised $1 million debit. Neil's pride is likely hurting more from the comeuppance than the cash outlay dented his savings account, but as he writes, "I lost, and happily so. As a proponent of electric mobility, I have said many times that I wanted to lose the bet... As a critic, I'll reserve judgment on the Model S until I get a chance to drive it."

Dan Neil eats crow, donates $1,000 to charity on behalf of Tesla CEO Elon Musk originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 16:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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