We’ve got to hand it to Mercedes-Benz. The Australian arm of the German automaker was so convinced that its iconic G-Wagen is one of the world’s most capable off-road vehicles, it decided to stage a demonstration run that would have seven of its boxy SUVs traveling from Halls Creek in Western Australia to Wiluna – a distance of 1,150 miles.

As it turned out, the distance, though definitely a long way to go in the wild’s of Australia in just 14 days, wasn’t the real issue encountered by the intrepid group of drivers. You see, the trip was organized along the historic Canning Stock Route, which was created at the beginning of the 20th Century as a way to get cattle from remote ranches in Kimberly to Perth, where it could then be sold.

Suffice it to say that driving cattle along the Canning Stock Route was a treacherous undertaking, and deaths were not uncommon. Today, the Route is considered one of the world’s greatest adventures and can only be tackled by serious four-wheel-drive machinery. Like the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen, right?

Well, sorta. As MB Australia found out the hard way, no amount of planning can guarantee a successful journey, as six out of its seven G-Wagons have been crippled by broken rear shock absorbers seven days into the drive. The lone undamaged vehicle is actually a specially modified military-spec vehicle called the G-Professional that the German automaker is considering importing into Australia… might not be a bad idea, eh?

For their part, MB’s reps are taking the damage in stride. While all machines remained drivable (of course, that term just means the machine is capable of moving under its own power…), new shocks were flown in on chartered airplanes at significant cost. Sounds like there’s absolutely no way in the Australian Outback Hell that this demonstration drive will end up a failure.

Australian Outback cripples fleet of Mercedes G-Wagens during PR event originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Chevrolet Volt hasn’t yet gone on sale, but General Motors is looking at ways of expanding its electric vehicle lineup. Chevy, along with partner LG, is employing a group of all-electric cars in the form of the Cruze. The sedans are part of a demonstration fleet which is located in Seoul, South Korea and is being used to provide data in an electric vehicle research project. The goal is to gather information on driving patterns and charging behavior in addition to consumer acceptance.

The Cruze EVs, along with some Daewoo Lacetti Premieres EVs, are the first fleet of full-size electric vehicles and should provide invaluable information for The General. Staying full-size means not sacrificing cargo space, so the battery pack is mounted to the underbody, leaving the trunk area open for plenty recyclable, canvas grocery bags.

The current range of the Cruze EV is around 100 miles and the car is capable of a 0-60 run in 8.2 seconds. The Cruze EV can hit a top speed of 102.5 miles per hour. Currently, the Cruze EV can be recharged via a standard 220-volt outlet in 8 to 10 hours, however the researchers are testing “quick charge” methods to reduce that figure.

The program, which begins at the end of October, is currently a demonstration and research project for South Korea only. There have been no announcements made discussing the Cruze EV coming stateside.

[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading Chevy gets cracking on Cruze EV fleet testing

Chevy gets cracking on Cruze EV fleet testing originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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