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"  On-Sale Date: July (CA, CT, ME, MD, MA, NJ, NY, OR, RI, VT); early 2015 nationwide Base Price: $41,450 Competitors: BMW i3, Audi A3 e-tron Powertrains: electric motor, 177 hp, 251 lb-ft; 28 kWh lithium-ion battery; direct drive; FWD Range (est.): 80 miles Sometimes the future looks so much like the present, the view takes a while to sharpen into focus. That&amp;#039;s especially true when you&amp;#039;re in Silicon Valley, where Mercedes chose to launch its new B-Class Electric. All around us, on every glass-smooth, pothole-free byway, so many Tesla Model S sedans plied by noiselessly that we thought we had jumped ahead to 2020. But the future won&amp;#039;t actually be filled with cars like the Model S. They&amp;#039;re the Rolex equivalent most of us will never be able to afford. Even in and around glitzy Palo Alto, there are a lot more Camrys, Fusions, Civics and, yes, C-Classes, than Teslas. Sorry to bum you out, brother, but the future looks like the present, just with different powertrains under the bodywork. So you could slight Mercedes for bringing Americans a car they already make, the B-Class, with a front-mounted electric motor and floor-mounted battery now installed. But you&amp;#039;d be missing the point.  Like Ford, Honda, Fiat, and other automakers with an electric car, Mercedes took an existing model it barely had to change to accommodate the conversion. This is a big, airy cabin, with standard leather, rich trim such as a large wood swath across the dash, a standard 5.8-inch touchscreen as well as stock navigation, and real-world comfort for four adults (five are a tight squeeze). Compared to the BMW i3, the rear cargo area is larger (17.6 cubic feet versus 9.2) and with the rear seats folded, you&amp;#039;re in compact-wagon/crossover turf, at 51.5 cubic feet. The Benz is about 16 inches longer than the BMW (and 3 inches shorter than a Honda Civic), but the utility, comfort, and relatively high seating position of the B-Class are all on par with the crossover/tall-sedan feel that attracts a great number of American buyers already.  Safety First Mercedes engineers assured us they were concerned about battery fires and other safety matters long before they bought a share in Tesla. The battery itself is reinforced from intrusion from all sides but more, the safety cell comes standard with front-knee airbags and curtain airbags, as well as Mercedes&amp;#039; radar-based collision-warning system and adaptive brake assist. Lane-departure warning, and other like devices, are available, but will cost more. Another extra is paddle shifters for the transmission that operate in a unique fashion, allowing the driver to selectively alter the transmission-based brake force that recharges the battery. This isn&amp;#039;t the same as using the regenerative braking. Rather, because it creates drag via the transmission, the handling effect is far more controlled, like actually downshifting in a manual gearbox car. Leaving the system in automatic mode allows the transmission to &amp;quot;downshift&amp;quot; based on radar, somewhat like radar-based cruise control, only here the deceleration also aids in charging the battery. In tight traffic it works so effectively you can all but come to a complete stop without touching the brake, simply modulating the throttle instead. Charge Time Mercedes says that if you get a Level 2 fast charger for home use, a charge from zero battery to full range will take about 3.5 hours. The company wouldn&amp;#039;t specify precisely how long the charge would take on a standard wall plug, save to say there&amp;#039;ll be special lease deals for purchase and installation of a fast charger along with your B-Class Electric. Rob Moran, who directs Mercedes&amp;#039; U.S. communications, explained they haven&amp;#039;t worked out a precise number; however, MBUSA is working hard to make its system the obvious choice for buyers. There&amp;#039;s psychology behind that idea, too, since once you have said infrastructure you&amp;#039;re far more likely to continue driving an EV or plug-in hybrid, and probably one from Mercedes. Drive Time If we could change a single thing about the Mercedes spec, it would be to ditch the low-rolling-resistance Michelin Primacy rubber. We doubt most buyers will expect their B-Class to perform like an AMG-edition Benz. And at 3858 pounds, it&amp;#039;s unlikely to be as agile in a corner as the far lighter, 2634-pound carbon-aluminum wonder that is the BMW i3. But believe it or not you can left-foot trail brake out of corners while mashing the &amp;quot;throttle&amp;quot; and the B-Class manages to do a decent imitation of a sports sedan. To this extent it handles far better than the Nissan Leaf and its more economy-EV ilk. The Mercedes is plenty quick in a straight line too. Zero to 60 mph takes 7.9 seconds, but the race to 30 mph or from 60 to 70 mph is throw-your-bean-back quick.  Unfortunately, though, the limited grip of the tires doesn&amp;#039;t just kill the fun of driving fast, it also increases the braking distance. So safety is compromised by tires that are engineered for less grip in the name of less drag. Beware, Snowbelt buyers: You&amp;#039;ll want to change the rubber before winter.   About That Bargain Some readers are presently screaming at their computers, saying $42,000 also isn&amp;#039;t how they&amp;#039;ll enter the EV future. We agree\u2014the up-front cost is high. Even if you qualify for the $7500 tax credit which, yes, we know, is not the same thing as a tax refund, this is still an expensive car. However, you should weigh that initial outlay against annual gas and maintenance costs. Depending on the cost of electricity where you live, and the cost of gas, on average you&amp;#039;re looking at spending $1000 less per year. This math is real, and it starts to argue toward a pretty smart investment.  True, the B-Class is no Tesla. Instead it&amp;#039;s grown-up, practical, fast, and pretty posh. This is an EV future we can get behind. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/hybrid-electric/reviews/a10523/driving-the-2015-mercedes-benz-b-class-electric-drive-16763311/>