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New Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive goes in to production

The first Mercedes B-Class ED (pictured) rolls off the production line in Rastatt With the BMW i3 grabbing headlines – and flying out of showrooms – as BMW’s first electric car, Mercedes need to play catch-up with a convincing EV of their own, and that’s the new B-Class Electric Drive – an EV version of the regular B-Class – which has now gone in to production in Germany. Built alongside regular ICE versions of the B-Class at Mercedes’ Rastatt Plant, the B-Class ED (Electric Drive) looks practically the same as its more conventionally powered siblings – although the front bumper does look a bit different – and has an electric motor good for 177 bhp and 250 lb/ft of torque, can manage a scoot to 62 mph in 7.9 seconds and has a range of up to 124 miles. The range – at least the quoted range – is a chunk better than the BMW i3′s and on a par with the latest Nissan LEAF, thanks to EV technology provided by Tesla, and the wrapping of an EV drivetrain in a conventional series production car could appeal to more buyers than the ‘statement’ design of the BMW i3.

Ferrari 458 Challenge revealed

The Ferrari 458 Challenge It seems Ferrari had a bit of an issue when they decided they wanted to take the 458 Italia racing – it was just so good in standard form. So instead of giving the 458 Italia more power, they concentrated on making the 458 lighter and tighter to create the Ferrari 458 Challenge, unveiled this week in Bologna. The 458 Challenge gets exactly the same 562 horses out of its 4.5 litre V8 as the Italia.

The Petersen Museum's proposed new exterior

This is not Architectureweek and granted, the Petersen Automotive Museum really does have to do something to its drab, Ohrbach's department store exterior to let people know there's a car museum inside. Shown here is what they're planning to do. The Petersen museum released this drawing of its planned exterior revision.