Motoring News
Today, 20 November 2015Mercedes-Benz GLC to get hydrogen fuel cell power in 2017
Mercedes confirms it’s readying a hydrogen fuel cell version of its mid-sized SUV
Mercedes-Benz is on track to launch its first commercially available hydrogen fuel cell model within the next two years.Thomas Weber, Mercedes’ head of research and development, told Autocar the company had finalised the engineering parameters for the new model, which is rumoured to be based around the recently introduced GLC.“We are targeting a combined range for the fuel cell and battery of up to 600km [373 miles], along with a refuelling time for the hydrogen tanks of three minutes,” Weber said. The new model is set to be called the GLC F-Cell. It is scheduled to be unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in 2017 and reach showrooms the following year. It’s expected to be offered to customers in selected markets on either a monthly lease or outright purchase programme. The ?price is expected to be ?around £50,000.Competitors for the GLC F-Cell include the recently introduced Toyota Mirai and Honda FCV Clarity. A further hydrogen-propelled rival is expected to come from BMW, which recently confirmed plans to launch its first fuel cell ?model by 2020.Despite basing earlier fuel cell prototypes on the B-Class, Weber said the continued high cost of the fuel stack makes a hydrogen fuel cell model commercially viable only in higher classes.He said: “The technology has matured greatly in recent years, with improved packaging and effic
read moreMatt Prior's tester's notes - Are bad drivers fatally flawed?
Bad drivers make their presence known wherever they go, so are these people only bad at driving? Somehow, I think the answer is no
I have a theory. Regular readers will be unsurprised to learn this, but when you drive 60,000 miles a year and Test Match Special has a limited listening window, theories come easily. And they come about through observing how well – or rather how badly – other people drive.Mostly people drive pretty well, considering how inadequately most people are trained. They follow the right lanes, they give way, they wave to say thank you when you let them out of turnings. But, as you will know, it’s far from a given. Some people drive horribly.My theory is that these people don’t just drive badly, they do everything badly. Those who dawdle, fail to indicate, sit in the middle lane or have no sense of spatial awareness are the same ones who suddenly stop, in the middle of a supermarket aisle or pavement, without regard for those around them. Annoying, but not consciously belligerent.Worse are those who try to gain a blatant advantage. Not a subtle “if I discreetly put myself in this lane now then I’ll be better off half a mile down the road” advantage, but an “I know it’s a line of moving traffic filtering past a slower one, but I’ll weave out of this lane, make up a space and pull dangerously back in to make up a few nanoseconds” advantage.I’m convinced they are the same people who push into queues elsewhere, or – my pet hate – appear on flights with hand baggage that’s clearly too big and heavy to be hand baggage and then expect to find a space for it. In the interests of research and when time allows, I’ll follow a bad driv
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