Updated 1/4/15 by Nick Jaynes: Mercedes released more teaser photos, which have been added to the gallery.
Teaser images are a great way for auto manufacturers to build up excitement for upcoming announcements, but they cause us to plummet deep into a speculation rabbit hole. Mercedes-Benz released such an image on the automaker’s Facebook page simply stating “ the future will be bolder than you’ve ever imagined.”
First off, from what we can tell from the image, it seems to be a concept car of some kind with a very unconventional, swooping silhouette from the back of its narrow taillights to the front tip. It’s difficult to get a sense of scale, but from what we can see from the wheel well, the mystery vehicle looks very low slung to the ground.
Beyond that, there isn’t much to go on from the image alone. The biggest clue is the “#mbCES” hashtag that accompanied the Facebook post, which tells us all will be revealed at next week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Dr. Dieter Zetsche is set to be a keynote speaker at CES, whereupon he will discuss autonomous vehicle technology as well as speak about Daimler Intelligence Drive, which is how the German luxury automaker refers to the network of safety sensors, driving assists, and comfort related functions found in its automobiles. The CES website also reaffirms that Dr. Z will indeed be presenting a concept vehicle.
So what could the focus of this concept car? Considering Zetche’s topic of choice, it’s a safe bet that this is Mercedes-Benz’s self-driving car concept, particularly if Intelligence Drive is also going to be a topic of discussion. Intelligence Drive already boasts a slew of “eyes and ears” for vehicles like the S-Class, connected to things like steering assists to keep drivers in their own lanes, Pre-safe braking systems to avoid pedestrian collisions, and dynamic cruise control that follows the car ahead.
So automated steering, braking and driving. Sounds like a self-driving car to us. We’ll only have to wait less than a week to see what Dr. Z unveils at the 2015 CES show on January 5th.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.