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Recharge Wrap-up: new Gigafactory drone video, Mercedes valet

A new, Tesla-approved drone video shows the progress of the Gigafactory. Recently, a video surfaced showing what Elon Musk said was just the "pilot plant," which is only a quarter of the size of the final planned Gigafactory. This new video not only shows the structure, but also the site surrounding it. We see more steel beams waiting to be erected, suggesting that the footprint of the finished building will be even more massive than that of the current standing structure. And if what Musk says is accurate, we've got a lot more to look forward to. Have a look in the video above, and read more at Teslarati. Tesla is paying hackers to find bugs in its website and products. In a posting on Bugcrowd, the electric automaker calls on "security researchers" to find vulnerabilities in the site itself, any domains owned by Tesla, any Tesla apps as well as Tesla hardware owned by the hacker like a Model S or the Powerwall. In exchange for the hackers' service, Tesla is offering rewards ranging from $25 to $1,000 for reported vulnerabilities. Tesla also promises not to sic the law enforcement on hackers who step forward to help, as long as they follow the rules. Read more at Teslarati. Daimler and Bosch are working on automated parking for Mercedes-Benz. In a properly equipped parking garage, the car would find an empty space and park by itself, and return to the driver when called upon. The groups are starting a pilot project for the autonomous valet feature with carsharing service Car2go, where it works the other way around. Customers will be able to call a car to a pick-up zone using a mobile app. When finished, the customer leaves the car in the drop-off zone, and the car takes care of the rest on its own. "Fully automated parking will be ready for mass-production before fully automated driving," says Bosch's Dr. Dirk Hoheisel. "Low driving speeds and the information from the car park infrastructure enable a fast implementation." Read more in the press release from Daimler. Volta has raised $7.5 million in funding to expand its free EV charging network. To offer free charging, Volta's chargers essentially perform double duty as billboards for what Volta calls "companies with a vested interest in the community." "Early Internet pioneers like Google became industry titans by first offering free consumer services online paid for by companies that advertised on their platforms," says Volta CEO Scott Mercer.

Mercedes-Benz says no to price premium on S550 PHEV

The good news? Mercedes-Benz won't be charging any extra for the plug-in hybrid version of the S550 sedan compared to the gas-powered version. The bad news? The gas-powered version is really expensive. The S550 Plug-in Hybrid's pricing will start at a tidy $95,325, the same as the conventional S550, according to Cars Direct. For that price, buyers get a car that delivers 436 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque while having the ability to go as far as 18 miles on electric power alone, assuming that the driver in question isn't trying to use all 436 horses. But just in case he or she is, the car can also go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in about five seconds. There's been no word on a fuel-economy rating from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) but the sedan gets 84 miles per gallon on the more lenient European driving cycle. It's unlikely to anywhere close to that stateside, but some folks still might feel they got their money's worth (ha ha) by adding a plug. The S550 Plug-in Hybrid goes on sale in California later this month. The model was first unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2013 and shown off at the Los Angeles Auto Show late last year. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2015 Mercedes-Benz S550 PHEV: LA 2014 View 13 Photos News Source: Cars Direct via Green Car ReportsImage Credit: Drew Phillips Green Mercedes-Benz Hybrid PHEV

Mercedes-Benz S500 Plug-in Hybrid ready for 'major role' in urban areas

We finally got a clear look at the Mercedes-Benz S500 Plug-in Hybrid at the Frankfurt Motor Show last fall, but it took until this week to learn what the vision (see what we did there) is that Mercedes-Benz has for the PHEV. Despite it's generous size, Mercedes thinks this is a vehicle that will work well in urban areas. Speaking to members of the media during the Detroit Auto Show, Thomas Weber, Daimler AG management board member and research and development chief for Mercedes-Benz cars, said that the S500 PHEV, "will play a major role in congested areas" and that it will offer "a lot of driving pleasure." Part of that pleasure will come from a 0-62 mile-per-hour time of around 5.5 seconds thanks to a turbocharged, 3.0-liter V6 and an 80-kilowatt electric motor. The PHEV also has a 19-mile EV range, which will put it at the bottom end of the Three-Pointed star plug-in lineup. The upcoming C-Class plug-in, for example, will likely go, "closer to 50 km [31 miles]," Weber said, according to Green Car Reports. The S500 PHEV will go on sale in Europe later this year and will come to the US in early 2015 but there is no timeline, yet, for the C-Class plug-in (and the standard gas-electric hybrid version) or the even-more-future E-Class hybrids. Featured Gallery 2014 Mercedes-Benz S500 Plug-in Hybrid: Frankfurt 2013 View 22 Photos News Source: Green Car ReportsImage Credit: 2014 Jonathon Ramsey / AOL Green Detroit Auto Show Mercedes-Benz Electric Hybrid PHEV s500