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Tesla to supply Mercedes-Benz with lithium-ion batteries?
Man, Tesla's been busy today -- in addition to the announcement of the Model S and Elon Musk's promise of a sub-$30K electric car in four years, word on the street is that the company's inked a deal with Daimler AG to supply it with lithium-ion batteries for upcoming electric cars. Daimler's CEO has said the company was open to leasing battery tech to get out an electric Smart by 2010 and it's rumored that the German marque is looking to ditch gas entirely by 2015, so going to Tesla, which has been working on battery tech for some time, isn't a totally out there proposition. Just a rumor for now -- given Tesla's generally-prickly relationships with others, we'd wait for an official announcement before getting too excited about a Roadster-powered SLR, but it's certainly intriguing.
Mercedes-Benz aiming to ditch petroleum by 2015?
While Audi is over there planning to produce an electric car within the next decade, Mercedes-Benz is hoping to be completely petro free within seven years. At least that's the word according to a recent report in The Sun. Dr. Herbert Kohler, who is responsible for Mercedes' advanced engineering, has reportedly suggested that "by 2015 motorists will have switched almost completely to alternative fuel cars." In order to make sure it's not left out, the automaker already has an electric car in the works for 2010 as well as plans to use its DiesOtto engine which will give motorists the ability to use biofuels should they choose. Still, aiming to phase petroleum completely out of its lineup by 2015 sounds overly ambitious from here, but we certainly won't complain if it achieves said goal.[Via AutoblogGreen, thanks Dan]
Electric Mercedes-Benz coming in 2010
Unlike Audi and friends, Mercedes has actually had its eye on non-gasoline burning vehicles for some while. According to a recent interview, Daimler's chief executive was quoted as saying that an "electric Smart [was planned] for 2010," and he continued by asserting that an electric Mercedes model would be arriving "the same year." Sadly, he didn't budge when pushed for pricing details, but he did note that cost would depend greatly "on whether it sells the batteries or leases them." Heck, there was even a mention of a fuel cell car in 2010, but we'd prefer to keep our hopes and expectations well beneath the stratosphere.[Via BenzInsider]
Mercedes museum hosts most powerful artificial tornado
How better to get visitors to your museum than to create a massive man-made tornado in the middle of the building? Clearly, our cynical suggestion is not the motivation behind the creation of Mercedes-Benz's artificial tornado in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart: their excuse was that the building had to abide by fire safety guidelines, which state that the massive open spaces in the museum required big fire doors the museum owner didn't want to put in place. The solution was apparently a 34.4 meter high tornado, powered by 144 jets and capable of moving 28 tons of air designed to clear smoke from the building -- and, for demonstration purposes, stage smoke. It's certainly not anyway near as powerful as a real tornado (the video after the break attests to that), but it's definitely just as pretty.
Mercedes Benz introduces Telephone Module with Bluetooth
Funny how long it's been since we've heard much about cars or car add-ons using the Bluetooth SIM Access Profile but soon select Mercedes Benzes will be available with the Telephone Module with Bluetooth, utizilizing SAP. (Remember that other German auto manufacturer that used it?) The system, which either comes tucked away in standalone box, or as an in-armrest handset option includes a SIM card reader and external GSM antenna uplink, so you can take advantage of higher powered cellular transmissions and get better reception than your phone could otherwise provide. Yours in a Benzo for €373 or €406 ($466 or 510 US).
