gullwing
Latest
Suzuki's Q-concept micro car tries to out-smart the Smart
Inner-city cars have been getting smaller and smaller, but Suzuki's Q-concept micro car takes extreme spot-hunting to the next level. Thanks to its tandem seating configuration, the Q-concept is slim -- somewhere between a car and a motorbike -- bestowing it tighter turning angles, ideal for snaking betwixt those SUVs at Walmart. Being a concept, there are all sorts of teasing technical touches we'd love to see, such as what looks like a smartphone dock in the steering wheel, video screens instead of rear-view mirrors and, of course, gull-wing doors. It might not have the cyborg-ish charms of Audi's Urban Concept, but mercifully it's got some decent curves, unlike its cousin the not-so-concept electric Every van.
Mercedes-Benz SLS E-Cell prototype fuels our electric dreams with 526 horses
Oh, electric supercar, why do you tease us so? Mercedes is latest to throw up a prototype of what it expects future rubber burners to look like, and its SLS E-Cell doesn't disappoint. Based on its petrol-guzzling SLS AMG model, this beast produces 526 horsepower and 649 pound-feet of torque, thanks to four motors (one for each wheel) allied to a battery array that can provide an industry-leading 480kW of juice. How fast does that get you to the magical 60mph marker? Try four seconds. There's a handsome 10-inch infotainment panel in the center console, which you may see after the break, but the best news is that this prototype can be driven now and could well turn into a production Benz at some point in 2013.
Mercedes confirms plans for all-electric SLS AMG gullwing
This one hasn't exactly been the best kept secret in automotive circles as of late, but Mercedes has now finally come out and confirmed that it will indeed be producing an all-electric version of its new SLS AMG gullwing coupe. For those not immediately sold by the word "gullwing," you may be slightly more impressed by the 48 kWh liquid cooled lithium ion battery pack at the heart of the car, which gets paired with an electric drive system tied to all four wheels that Mercedes says is "on the same high level" as the 6.8-liter V8 engine that's in the non-electric SLS. Somewhat curiously, however, Mercedes isn't doing any talking about range just yet but, as AutoBlog notes, it seems likely that it'll be less than the 200 miles the Tesla Roadster gets, given its small battery capacity. There's also unfortunately still no official word on a price or time frame for a release, but the current talk seems to be that it could be rolling out by 2015.
