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Recharge Wrap-up: BMW i3 goes against Mercedes B-Class ED, Tesla good for business

Car and Driver has published a comparison test pitting the 2014 BMW i3 against the 2014 Mercedes-Benz B-class Electric Drive. The test not only measured the quality of the driving experience, but also all the quantitative details that are especially important when looking at electric vehicles. For instance, the Benz's real-world MPGe surpassed its own rating, but it still couldn't match the BMW. The B-Class, though, won in the range department. We won't spoil all the results, or Car and Driver's overall pick, but you can head over to the article to find out for yourself. Tesla's expanding business, including the Gigafactory being built in Reno, NV, is encouraging growth in the locales and associated businesses. Some of Tesla's suppliers are talking of relocation, wanting to be close to the action stirred up by the electric automaker's expansion. It makes good business sense to be in the same neighborhood as Tesla. "We can react quickly, and our engineers are constantly working with Tesla," says Futuris General Manager Sam Coughlin. Brookings Institute fellow Jennifer Vey says, "The land around Tesla is being redeveloped and reimagined. It's a mash-up of an anchor campus, startups, housing and transit, in a physically compact area where companies can cluster and connect." Read more at San Jose Mercury News. EVs are doing even more to reduce energy use clean up the air, according to new analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists. According to findings, 60 percent of Americans now live in areas where EVs do more to reduce emissions than hybrids, up from 45 percent in 2012. Average electricity use is now 0.325 kWh per mile, down five percent from 2011. EV performance - in terms of mileage and emissions - is improving compared to traditional fuel vehicles, based on the sources of electricity in various regions. Read more from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Zipcar's carsharing network has launched in Paris. Zipcar is expanding across Europe, and has already established itself in Austria, Spain and the UK. According to Zipcar France's General Manager Etienne Hermite, "In a highly populated city, Zipcar's model has been proven to remove up to 15 personally owned vehicles from the road for each Zipcar in service, reducing parking demand, congestion and emissions." Zipcar European President Massimo Marsili hopes that most Parisians will eventually be just a short walk from a Zipcar.

On Location in Mexico with the BMW 3 Series and X1

Back in October, I traveled to Mexico with BMW to drive the new X1 crossover and the updated 3 Series sedan, specifically the new 340i. I wasn't surprised to see freshly paved roads and beautiful scenery, both of which are staples of the new-car launch. What we don't usually find are car-sized boulders blocking entire lanes of travel, goats as surprise traffic obstacles, and roads that turn to dirt with little warning. In hindsight, maybe the boulders have something to do with the fresh pavement. All that made the drive from our hotel on the edge of Copper Canyon to a little town called Batopilas more interesting than the normal A-to-B. Getting to and from the hotel was its own adventurous challenge, requiring my first and second flights in a Cessna. I managed to escape with my life and some video of the experience, and it's all edited for you above. Enjoy. BMW Crossover Luxury Videos Original Video Sedan

Cars we're thankful we drove in 2019

We drove a lot of cars in 2019, and there's still a month to go. We drove them in our home office in Michigan, at our remote offices in Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Columbus, Ohio, and throughout the globe on myriad press launches. We could count them, but hey, that seems boastful.  Instead, we want to be thankful. Not only for the opportunity to do this wonderful task some might describe as a "job," but for the new, shiny cars that brighten our days (and most hopefully yours). We asked our fellow editors which car they were most thankful to drive in 2019 ... here are our answers. 2019 Hyundai Veloster N Performance Senior Editor Alex Kierstein Every once in a while a car comes along that changes the narrative on a company or its segment, and everyone scrambles to experience it for themselves. This year, for me, that car’s the Veloster N Performance, perhaps the most transformative car the companyÂ’s ever built. Everyone whoÂ’s driven it, here and elsewhere, says it captures all those intangibles that make great driving hatchbacks great. And IÂ’m thankful that I got a go in it before all of them left the fleet, because it does. It upends the segment long dominated by the GTI, a car that nails its brief. The N is rowdy and loud, sure, but it also has some of the most deftly tuned suspension IÂ’ve come across in a front driver. My advice: if youÂ’re in the market for something fun and unique, go test drive a Veloster N. I think youÂ’ll be thankful you did. 2019 Hyundai Veloster N View 47 Photos 2019 Audi E-Tron Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder IÂ’m pleased that I got to drive the Audi E-Tron. ThatÂ’s high praise for a year in which I also drove the stellar Jaguar I-Pace. The E-Tron, while not as sporty as the Jaguar, is excellently executed, and feels like a more refined, polished offering. ItÂ’s quick, whisper-quiet, comfortable, stylish inside and out, and incredibly sturdy. Some may lament that it doesnÂ’t do much to stand out from ICE vehicles, but I donÂ’t think it needs to. What it does need to do is win over the electro-skeptical, and I think Audi put its best foot forward with a crossover that can do just that, and more. So, yeah, not only am I thankful that I got to drive it, IÂ’m glad that itÂ’s compelling enough that itÂ’ll hopefully make potential customers feel the same. 2020 Audi E-Tron View 13 Photos 2013 Peugeot 508 West Coast Editor James Riswick My choice totally sucks.