Autocar May 4, 2022

IT’S BEEN CLOSE to five years since TVR revealed the production version of the new Griffith, the first car since its unexpected but very welcome rebirth. Since then, a customer car has yet to drive out of the still unfinished factory in South Wales. TVR said late last year that its future had been secured by a joint venture with lithium mining company Ensorcia Metals. This deal, TVR promised, would help finally get the V8-powered Griffith into production, a car for which TVR still holds a year’s production of deposits, and would in time be the basis for electric TVRs. That electric Griffith has now been confirmed for as soon as 2024 (p14). On the same day as announcing the Griffith EV and a surprise sponsorship of Formula E races, a “multimillionpound”…

Mercedes-Benz will rapidly expand its EV line-up in the coming years by ushering in electric options in crucial new segments and introducing a range of new platforms with unprecedented range and performance capabilities. The marque’s line-up of electric models already comprises a wide variety of cars of different shapes and segments – ranging from the EQA hatchback to the new EQS SUV flagship – and it will be extended further with the launch of the mid-sized EQE SUV later this year and an electric version of the G-Class 4x4 by 2024. The company’s commitment to offering a electric version of every model by 2025 is among the most ambitious electrification pledges of any mainstream manufacturer. This comes alongside a commitment to develop only bespoke EV architectures from 2024 – when the all-new…

While touting a 50% improvement in energy density from its next-generation batteries, Mercedes is already looking to the next step, with development under way on solid-state battery technology. The firm has partnered Taiwanese battery developer Prologium, which claims to have supplied nearly 8000 solid-state battery samples to car manufacturers. The tie-up will usher in solidstate test vehicles in “the coming years” on the way to rolling out the hardware to production cars in the second half of the decade. Mercedes estimates that these future batteries can nearly double the range of today’s conventional lithium ion packs and the EVs equipped with these units can be lighter, more spacious and cheaper to produce.…

DEVELOPMENT OF A bespoke EV architecture for small cars will also facilitate a direct electric replacement for the A-Class hatchback, in line with Mercedes’ plan to usher in an EV in every segment by 2025. Currently, the smallest model in Mercedes’ EQ family is the EQA crossover, an electric version of the combustion-powered GLA that shares its sibling’s platform. It is one of four EVs in the brand’s portfolio – alongside the slightly larger EQB, the EQC SUV and the van-based EQV – to use a modified version of an existing combustion-engined architecture. But with the new MMA platform, Mercedes is well placed to take on the Volkswagen ID 3 with a lowerslung premium hatchback that matches the current A-Class for interior space and its rivals for range per charge. The MMA platform…

The first ‘car’ ever built may have worn a Benz badge, but Mercedes didn’t lead the EV charge a century later. When we think of pioneers of the mass-produced EV, it’s General Motors, Tesla, Nissan and BMW that will be pictured next to that entry in the eventual encyclopedia of the 21st century – but it looks like it will be Mercedes that finally kicks the concept of mass EV adoption firmly into the realm of the feasible. To set aside all talk of emissions quotas, infrastructure expansion, urban low-emission zones and governmental incentives is to arrive at the simple and unavoidable conclusion that the one simple thing all drivers want is to get in their car and know they will arrive at point B at roughly the time they expect…

The new 911 Sport Classic has been revealed as the latest entry into the Porsche Heritage Design collection, paying tribute to one of the marque’s most celebrated historic models. Mechanically based on the 911 Turbo, the new 911 Sport Classic follows its 997.2-generation forebear in paying homage to the 1972 911 Carrera RS 2.7. It’s the second of four planned 992-generation 911s to feature a heritageinspired design, following the 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition revealed last year. It has the turbocharged 3.7-litre flat six from the 911 Turbo, sending 542bhp and 442lb ft of torque to the rear axle through a seven-speed manual gearbox – which isn’t available on the PDK-only 911 Turbo, making this the most powerful manual 911 on sale. Ceramic brakes, sports suspension and 20in front and 21in rear centre-locking…