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YouTube's Super Bowl commercial buzz list dominated by automakers [w/videos]

After Sunday's big game, YouTube will be the place to watch every commercial that you missed when you left your seat for an emergency guac refill or, as we say in Cleveland, took the Browns to the Super Bowl. That makes YouTube the nation's water cooler on Monday, and it's got some preliminary stats to share in the lead up to kickoff.
As you know, Super Bowl advertisers, particularly automakers, like to endlessly tease their big budget commercials in the weeks before the game, many times revealing them outright days in advance. Because of this, YouTube can tell us which commercials have been viewed the most so far, and their top five list is all automakers.
Kaley Cuoco appears to have been a good investment for Toyota, as her ad for the RAV4 has garnered the most YouTube views - six million and counting - among Super Bowl commercials so far. Second place goes to Mercedes-Benz, though not its actual Super Bowl commercial, but rather the teaser for it. You know, the one with Kate Upton and the car washing, which is up to 5.6 million views. Third place is Audi's Prom commercial (3.3M views), fourth goes to Volkswagen's slightly controversial Get In, Get Happy ad (3.3M views), and the fifth and final spot is bookended by the teaser video for Kaley Cuoco's commercial (3.2M views). You can watch all five in order below.

Mercedes AMG and Cigarette Racing debut 2,220-HP electric motor boat

Take the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-Cell, stretch it and take off the wheels then make it float and you've basically got the just-unveiled Cigarette AMG Electric Drive Concept. Powered by an all-electric powertrain that offers 2,200 horsepower and 2,213 pound-feet of torque (and uses "numerous components" taken from the not-quite-as-yellow SLS AMG Coupé Electric Drive), the sleek concept is being called the "world's most powerful electric drive powerboat." What that means is a top speed of over 100 miles per hour from four 60-kWh lithium-ion batteries and two banks of six liquid-cooled, permanent-magnet synchronous electric motors. And the 240 kWh of total energy should provide plenty of juice out on the water.
Launched (but not literally) at the Miami International Boat Show today, the Cigarette AMG Electric Drive Concept is the result of a partnership between Mercedes-AMG and Cigarette Racing. The boat is 38 feet long (much longer than the 15-foot SLS) and is plastered with AMG branding on the sides and top of the bow above the matte chrome yellow paint (officially called AMG Electricbeam mango). Two 220-kW chargers can refill the batteries, dockside, in about seven hours.
The idea of a powerful electric boat is nothing new (Henrik Fisker talked about a plug-in hybrid watercraft late last year), but this is the first time we've seen Mercedes put its EV technology on the water. Anyone who's afraid of driving an EV in the rain should take note. Check out the complete press release below.

Mercedes-Benz GLK coupe to get 2016 intro

Radio chatter around the emerging small, premium crossover coupe genre has thus far been dominated by the Land Rover Evoque and the Mini Paceman. According to a report in Car, the Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class (shown above) has received its invitation to the party and will spend the next three years getting ready: it's said that two-door variant of the crisply-angled CUV is coming in 2016, along with a redesign befitting its sleeker intentions.
To be based on the MRA platform - the rear-drive version of the company's three new modular platforms, it will also support the coming 2013 S-Class and could eventually get an AMG version to help it compete with segment offerings like the forthcoming Porsche Macan. Not much else is known about it beyond its name: Car says it will be called the GLC, a friendly nomenclature we remember best as a Mazda hatchback (allegedly for "Good Little Car"). Internet oldtimers may remember the Mazda GLC as the predecessor to the 323 (which in turn came before today's Mazda3). Either way, the GLC is not to be confused with the larger upcoming BMW X6 rival based on the ML-Class (reportedly called GLS) which is also said to still be in the works, or the front-drive based GLA, a model also edging toward production.