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On Location in Switzerland and France in the 2016 Mercedes GLC

Our first test drive of the 2016 Mercedes-Benz GLC was a flat-out European adventure. We spent two days driving through Switzerland and France, with a brief stop in Germany. The twisty roads took us through vineyards, farmland, and villages that are centuries old. The historic setting stood in contrast with the sleek, contemporary GLC. It's Mercedes' newest small crossover and replaces the GLK in the company's portfolio. While we soaked in the culture, we also got a taste of the GLC's abilities. This is not a simple refresh of the GLK. The GLC has delicate curves, a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, and a new wave of Mercedes technology. The changes are sweeping, and the GLC looks and drives much differently than the edgy, V6-powered GLK. Admittedly, we liked the GLK's rough-hewn feel, though we warmed to the GLC's more subtle charm. This evolution may have occurred as we crossed the Alsatian region of France. Or maybe in Amsterdam, where we contemplated the GLC's merits and our travel plans for getting back across the Atlantic. Regardless, over the course of our trip we reached a conclusion: the GLC is more in-step with what today's consumers want in their crossovers. It took a long drive over some of Europe's oldest roads for us to arrive at Mercedes' new way of thinking. Related Video:

Elephant with an itch to scratch uses cars for relief

Sometimes in life you, get an itch in a place that you need some help to scratch it. That feeling apparently goes for elephants as well as humans. A pachyderm at the Khao Yai National Park in Thailand recently had some serious comfort in its rump. Unfortunately, the giant animal chose several passing vehicles to alleviate the problem. Things start out rather cute with the elephant rubbing its enormous behind on a Mercedes-Benz. However, another vehicle apparently doesn't provide the same level of relief. The animal seems to grow annoyed and starts taking the sedan apart with at least one person inside. The experience must have been mammothly terrifying. According to BBC News, no one was injured, and the odd behavior is being blamed on a result of the elephant's mating season. Male elephants, as well as other male pachyderms, go through a period called the musth, when testosterone levels rise to several times greater than normal in preparation for the mating season. It makes the elephant aggressive, irritable and yes, itchy.

Mercedes-Benz engines with 48-volt systems coming in 2017

As part of a big green push announced yesterday, Mercedes-Benz is jumping into the world of 48-volt power. The company will launch a new family of efficient gasoline engines next year and will begin rolling out 48-volt systems with it, likely in its more expensive cars first. Mercedes will use the 48-volt systems to power mild-hybrid functions like energy recuperation (commonly called brake regeneration), engine stop-start, electric boost, and even moving a car from a stop on electric power alone. These features will be enabled through either an integrated starter-generator (Mercedes abbreviates it ISG) or a belt-driven generator (RSG). (RSG is from the German word for belt-driven generator, Riemenstartergeneratoren. That's your language lesson for the day.) Mercedes didn't offer many other details on the new family of engines. There are 48-volt systems already in production; Audi's three-compressor SQ7 engine uses an electric supercharger run by a 48-volt system, and there's a new SQ5 diesel on the horizon that will use a similar setup with the medium-voltage system. Electric superchargers require a lot of juice, which can be fed by either a supercapacitor or batteries in a 48-volt system. Why 48-volt Matters: Current hybrid and battery-electric vehicles make use of very high voltages in their batteries, motors, and the wiring that connects them, usually around 200 to 600 volts. The high voltage gives them enough power to move a big vehicle, but it also creates safety issues. The way to mitigate those safety issues is with added equipment, and that increases both cost and weight. You can see where this is going. By switching to a 48-volt system, the high-voltage issues go away and the electrical architecture benefits from four times the voltage of a normal vehicle system and uses the same current, providing four times the power. The electrical architecture will cost more than a 12-volt system but less than the complex and more dangerous systems in current electrified vehicles. The added cost makes sense now because automakers are running out of ways to wisely spend money for efficiency gains. Cars can retain a cheaper 12-volt battery for lower-power accessories and run the high-draw systems on the 48-volt circuit. The industry is moving toward 48-volt power, with the SAE working on a standard for the systems and Delphi claiming a 10-percent increase in fuel economy for cars that make the switch.