Gorgeous Mercedes Benz 1987 300 Sdl on 2040-cars

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2014 Mercedes-Benz S500 Plug-in Hybrid for fat cats frugal with fuel

Judging by how long we waited to get a clear shot of the Mercedes-Benz S500 Plug-in Hybrid, you'd have thought hybrid cars were only driven by Terminators and that the technology arrived only 48 hours ago through a wormhole in the Mercedes stand. The newest member of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class hybrid band - joining the S400 Hybrid and S350 BlueTEC Hybrid, it hits notes like a 5.5-second sprint from standstill to 62 miles per hour, up to 19 miles of ion-powered running and uses three liters of gasoline per 100 kilometers in Europe (78.41 mpg US, but our mpg test cycle is different than their mpg test cycle).
The lump up front is a turbocharged, 3.0-liter V6, the lump in back - note the reduction in trunk space - is a pack of lithium-ion batteries that juice an 80-kilowatt electric motor. Other than having four drive options for controlling electric drive and battery usage, it's all S-Class all the time, with leather-covered everything and those mountainous thrones that bring to mind words like "Archduke" and "Papal."
You'll find our hard-earned gallery from the Frankfurt Motor Show floor above, and more words of information in the press release below.

F1 cancels season-opening Australian Grand Prix over coronavirus

Workers pack up in pit lane after the cancellation of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne, Friday. / AP   MELBOURNE, Australia — As thousands of fans queued to get into the Australian Grand Prix, seemingly unperturbed by the coronavirus pandemic, the Formula One teams and drivers were packing up to leave. The rapid spread of the virus left organizers with little choice Friday but to cancel the season-opening race, particularly after McLaren withdrew because a team member tested positive for the COVID-19 illness and following heavy criticism from six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. The two practice sessions that usually showcase what the teams have been improving in the off-season were less than two hours from starting when the decision was publicly announced. Principals of nine F1 teams and organizers met overnight and “concluded with a majority view of the teams that the race should not go ahead," a joint statement by FIA, motorsport's governing body, local organizers and F1 said. “It's been a very fluid situation," F1 chairman Chase Carey said. “We're all disappointed not to have it, but I think we've made the decision we had to make." “It's not like it came out of the blue," Carey told a news conference beside the F1 paddock that ended in light rain. “A week ago, when teams started traveling here, we felt it was the right decision (to stage the race). Clearly the situation changed in the interim." Practice, qualifying and Sunday's race were all scrapped, casting doubt over the Bahrain Grand Prix which is scheduled to be held next week and the Vietnamese GP, scheduled for April 5. Authorities in Bahrain have already said no fans will be allowed into the circuit. Carey said a decision on whether or not to go ahead with the the race would be made in coming days. The Chinese GP has already been postponed from April. Hamilton used the first official news conference with F1 drivers in Melbourne to say he was shocked that organizers planned to proceed with the Australian Grand Prix, which regularly attracts more than 300,000 people over four days. McLaren's decision to withdraw was ultimately the catalyst for the cancellation. That person and 14 other McLaren team members have been placed in quarantine in a Melbourne hotel for 14 days. Hamilton's Mercedes-AMG Petronas team said it sent a letter to the FIA and F1 requesting the cancellation and had commenced preparations to leave before the decision was publicly announced.

BMW, Mercedes ponder challengers to Uber

With autonomous vehicles seemingly just on the horizon of actually arriving to consumers, companies in the auto industry are already thinking about how the innovations could radically change how they do business. For example, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are considering a time where they might transform into ridesharing companies, according to Reuters. It almost sounds like the sci-fi motoring world Bob Lutz is predicting. The German brands foresee a future where some people hail their driverless cars like taxis and use them for short trips. The automakers could run those fleets, essentially making them Uber competitors. In fact, Tesla is reportedly mulling the idea, and Google might be, too. Alternatively, ridesharing services could buy the companies' models directly. "New mobility concepts will emerge with autonomous vehicles, which are robot cars. Fleet management will become a much more significant business," Peter Schwarzenbauer, BMW board of management member in charge of Mini, said to Reuters. With BMW's DriveNow and Daimler's Car2Go car-sharing services, both automakers are already experimenting with alternative ways to get their vehicles on the road. It's not too hard to imagine one of the brand's peppering a few autonomous cars into those fleets someday to test these new theories in the real world. "The ability to use a car, and then walk away is a serious business," Ian Robertson, BMW's head of sales and marketing, said about the future of driverless tech to Reuters. Related Video: