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The Mansory Speranza proves that money can buy taste and good sense...

...Just kidding.
No one in their right mind has ever accused German tuners Mansory of being subtle. So, when our Geneva team wandered across the Mansory Speranza - A Mercedes-Benz Gelandewagen that has been denuded of its roof and spackled inside with quilted leather and red carbon fiber ­- they didn't ask a lot of existential questions. Why does the Speranza exist? Because Germans are weird sometimes, that's why.
Forget for a moment that you'll have to pay Mansory hundreds of thousands of euros (we're guessing, no pricing information has been revealed) for the privilege of converting your G-Class into something that looks like a Suzuki Samurai, and prepare to be impressed by the details. The tuning house has increased the output of the Mercedes V8 to a healthy 700 horsepower and 668 pound-feet of torque. The wheels are 24-inches, and wear almost unbelievable 305-section ultra-high performance Vresdestein tires. Carbon fiber can be found nearly everywhere one looks, including making up the housing for the spare tire. Oh, and there are leather pillows for the backseats... no word on whether they're standard or optional, but we're looking in to it.

Mercedes unveils GLC350e 4Matic PHEV

Mercedes-Benz intends to introduce at least 10 plug-in hybrid models to the market by 2017, and the the Mercedes GLC350e 4Matic is the latest one to show its electrified face. It's also the second crossover from the company to offer a PHEV version following the GLE550e 4Matic. Mercedes isn't releasing all of the details about the plug-in GLC yet, but it combines an internal combustion engine making 208 horsepower and a 114 hp electric motor with a seven-speed gearbox. Total torque is 413 pound-feet. The combo is enough to get the all-wheel drive crossover to 62 miles per hour in a purported 5.9 seconds and a claimed top speed of 146 mph. Fuel economy in the European cycle is estimated at the equivalent of about 90 miles per gallon, and there's a 21-mile pure electric range for zero-emissions cruising. Based around the newly introduced GLC-Class, buyers can still order a plethora of luxurious amenities, but the plug-in powertrain also comes with a few tweaks to help drivers maximize fuel economy. There's a haptic accelerator with a resistance point to indicate the switch between electric and combustion power. In addition, the hybrid system can anticipate the road ahead through radar and GPS to manage things as efficiently as possible. One of the GLC hybrid's biggest advantages when it arrives is the small field of competitors. Neither BMW nor Audi currently have a compact luxury crossover of this size with a hybrid option in the US. That really only leaves the Mercedes to take on the Lexus NX300h with total system output of 194 hp, and that's not even a plug-in. The GLC350e 4Matic isn't part of the new model's initial launch lineup in the US. It should be coming along later, though. Key topic: Energy efficiency - Economy on four wheels A revised all-wheel-drive powertrain, the outstanding aerodynamics and the intelligent lightweight design are the primary reasons for the high energy efficiency of all the new GLC models. The conventional diesel and petrol models boast significant reductions of up to 19 percent in both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in comparison to the previous generation, while at the same time improving performance. GLC 220 d 4MATIC GLC 250 d 4MATIC GLC 250 4MATIC Output, kW/hp 125/170 150/204 155/211 Torque, Nm 400 500 350 Fuel consumption (l/100 km) 5.0 - 5.5 (6.1 - 6.5) 5.0 - 5.5 (6.1 - 6.6) 6.5 - 7.1 (7.5 - 7.9) ? Consumption % -19 -19 -12 CO2 g/km 129 - 143 (159 - 169) 129 - 143 (159 - 169) 152 - 166 (173 - 180) ?

Recharge Wrap-up: Smart Silvretta E-Car Rally, Uber's autonomous Teslas

Daimler took part in the 2015 Silvretta E-Car Rally with seven electrified cars from Mercedes-Benz and Smart. It is the automakers' sixth year competing in the competition in the mountains of Austria's Montafon region. Mercedes fielded two B-Class Electric Drives, an SLS AMG Electric Drive, C350e, S500e and GLE500e 4Matic alongside a Smart Brabus Fortwo Electric Drive Cabriolet. The Silvretta Rally sees some 150 vintage cars and 30 electric vehicles take part in the event, which took place from July 2 through 5 this year. Read more in the press release from Daimler below. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick says that he'd want to buy all of Tesla's autonomous vehicles if they were available in 2020. Venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson relayed Kalanick's comments from the Top 10 Tech Trends dinner in June. Jurvetson also praises self-driving cars, saying, "I believe they are already safer than my parents, and I would trust my kids with them. And they're just going to get better." Jurvetson also believes that taxi services will prosper from the use of autonomous cars in the future. Read more at Hybrid Cars. A Michigan legislator has introduced a bill that would count burning industrial solids — such as tires and plastics — toward the state's renewable energy mandate. Aric Nesbitt's bill would "remove unnecessary burdens on the appropriate use of solid waste as a clean energy source" in order to meet the state's requirement that 10 percent of energy come from renewable sources. Critics argue that these materials are not truly renewable, and that burning them causes pollution and emits greenhouse gases. The proposed bill would also repeal a law requiring utilities to work toward reducing energy use by one percent per year. Read more at Treehugger. Will the cars National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) builds in China bear the Saab name? While NEVS is the newest parent company to Saab after being acquired in bankruptcy from Spyker, there's no confirmation that the electric vehicles it builds at its Tianjin plant will be sold as Saabs. Swedish defense firm Saab AB, which held the rights to the Saab name, withheld permission to use it after NEVS declared bankruptcy last year. "The exact models and brands are not finalized yet," says a NEVS spokesman. The company says it is spending $200 million to build the new factory in China, with an expected annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles. Read more at Automotive News Europe.