Aurelia Butler

Mercedes-Benz has teased a new electric luxury van that will be revealed in spring 2025. Mercedes has already said the unnamed mid-size van will be sold in the United States.Based on the new modular VAN.EA platform, Mercedes says this will help the brand differentiate personal vans from commercial ones.UPDATE 3/3/25: Mercedes has released a new photo teasing a soon-to-debut Vision V concept. It will preview a new luxury version from the brand’s forthcoming lineup of electric vans. They will be based on the modular VAN.EA platform, which will spawn a range of variants starting in 2026.Mercedes-Benz is developing a new generation of electric vans, including a luxury model that’s coming to America. The German automaker today released a teaser photo of the new van, which should be more upscale than the now-defunct Metris and will debut in spring 2025.Mercedes-BenzThe new Mercedes vans will be based on the modular VAN.EA platform that the company detailed more than a year ago. Basically, it will be the foundation of all forthcoming personal and commercial vans, and it was designed to help better differentiate between the two use cases. Mercedes says VAN.EA is scalable, allowing multiple wheelbase lengths as well as various battery capacities. The EV vans will be available with front- or all-wheel drive.Mercedes-BenzCircling back to the yet-to-be-named luxury van, Mercedes previously confirmed that it would make it to our shores when it revealed the new electrical architecture. While the company today shared very few other details about it, the mid-size van that’s designed for personal use will offer different levels of appointments. Those will include everything from a fancy family hauler to a C-suite shuttle to a roomy limo that would make Burt Reynolds proud.Mercedes-BenzMercedes-BenzMercedes has said its next generation of vans will arrive in 2026. While we’ll have to wait a few months for them to be revealed, earlier this year, the automaker released photos of a prototype testing, albeit one that was heavily disguised.More on Mercedes VansEric Stafford’s automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a journalism degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si. More

Here’s a Cadillac wagon with the heart of a Corvette.Even better, this is one of the rare examples with a manual transmission.The mileage is low, but not museum grade, so feel free to unleash that supercharged V-8 daily.Today’s Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is a monster, and a multiple C/D 10Best Cars winner, but one thing is doesn’t offer is a long-roof body style. To get that, you have to travel back to the CTS-V last sold in 2014. That car blended the presence of a Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk with the supercharged V-8 belligerence of a Corvette ZR-1, and combined it with an old-school manual transmission. And it was available as a station wagon. Glorious madness.Bring a TrailerAn ideal example of this Batmobile of wagons is for sale right now on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos). It’s a 2014 Cadillac CTS-V wagon with the six-speed manual, black on black. The mileage is low at just 48K miles, but not so low that you’ll feel bad about actually driving it and being the coolest parent at the school pick-up line.Bring a TrailerUnder the hood is a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 good for 556 horsepower and 551 pound-feet of torque. These were bonkers numbers a decade ago, and still very credible today. And whereas modern war wagons like the Audi RS6 Avant or the Mercedes-AMG E63 (last sold in 2023) feature all-wheel drive to tame the power, the Cadillac lights up its tires with rear-wheel drive tempered only by a limited-slip differential.Bring a TrailerThis example is unmodified and equipped with some niceties including a panoramic sunroof, Bose audio, and navigation. What really matters, from an enthusiast perspective, is the stick shift sitting between the front Recaros, linked to a Tremec six-speed manual transmission.Bring a TrailerRelated StoriesBesides Corvette power levels, the CTS-V also gets Brembo brakes to handle stopping duties, and GM’s lightning-quick adaptive magnetorheological dampers. C/D put 40,000 miles on a CTS-V wagon back when the model came out, and the praise for the way this thing delivered power and polish was universal.It’s the quintessential “They don’t make ’em like that anymore” Cadillac, and ones with the manual transmission are few and far between. This one checks all the boxes and is sure to dole out thrills by the wagonful. The auction ends on May 6.Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels. More

While it looks like Airstream’s Basecamp 20, the 20Xe is a battery-powered trailer that uses a 10.3-kWh lithium Battle Born battery pack, which provides energy to a fully inverted 30A electrical system. With sleeping space for four and a 600W rooftop solar panel, the 20Xe starts at $76,900.Options include a compostable toilet, an air conditioner, a microwave, and more solar capability. Airstream’s first all-electric travel trailer, the Basecamp 20Xe, is here. The well-known trailer company has experimented with the electric camper idea in the Thor eStream RV concept, but the new 20Xe is the first such battery-powered trailer ready for the masses.Airstream regularly releases special versions of its long-standing trailer line. The company worked with Studio F.A. Porsche on an urban-inspired camper concept in 2023. The eStream concept, released in 2022, used two electric motors that produced a peak combined output of 242 horsepower, and 80.0 kWh of energy capacity from a lithium battery. The fact that the eStream used motors shows how different that concept was from the new Basecamp 20Xe. While the Basecamp 20Xe moves only when it’s towed, the eStream could use its ZF-developed powertrain and its 132 pound-feet of torque to either provide some help to the tow vehicle or use Airstream’s Move mode to maneuver the eStream remotely.Details of the 20Xe The Basecamp 20Xe has the same exterior size as Airstream’s Basecamp 20 trailer: seven feet, 9.5 inches wide and 20 feet, 2.0 inches long, with a GVWR of 4500 pounds. That means the two trailers share some of the same features, including two convertible sleeping spaces—one in the rear seating areas and the other in the main hall area—that can sleep up to four. AirstreamThe heart of the electric trailer is the 10.3-kWh lithium Battle Born battery pack, which provides energy to a fully inverted 30A electrical system. If the battery runs low, there is a 600-watt rooftop solar panel (optional up to 900 W) and a 3000-watt inverter. Airstream doesn’t say how long the battery will last because that’s determined by how much you use things like the optional microwave and air conditioner. And how loud you pump the three-speaker JBL Audio sound system.AirstreamAirstream A 20-pound propane tank can be used to heat the camper or water since the Truma Combi eco plus System heating system can operate using only electricity, only propane, or both. A typically small RV wet bath combines the features of a shower, toilet, and sink with a Showermi$er recirculation system and a 23-gallon fresh-water tank to reduce waste. And did anyone say optional composting toilet upgrade? That’s available, too. The single-burner induction cooktop is removable, so you can use it outdoors from any 110-volt outlet. Other outside-the-camper extensions include an outdoor shower option and several optional tent and awning attachments. Built into the floor near the rear door is a compartment that can be used as either wet storage or a cooler. Overall, the interior can be had with one of two fabric options: Granite Ridge dark charcoal with light tan accents or Sandstone Canyon (colors reversed).AirstreamAirstreamThe Basecamp 20Xe starts at $76,900. The standard Basecamp starts at $48,300 for the 16-foot model. Sebastian Blanco has been writing about electric vehicles, hybrids, and hydrogen cars since 2006. His articles and car reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Automotive News, Reuters, SAE, Autoblog, InsideEVs, Trucks.com, Car Talk, and other outlets. His first green-car media event was the launch of the Tesla Roadster, and since then he has been tracking the shift away from gasoline-powered vehicles and discovering the new technology’s importance not just for the auto industry, but for the world as a whole. Throw in the recent shift to autonomous vehicles, and there are more interesting changes happening now than most people can wrap their heads around. You can find him on Twitter or, on good days, behind the wheel of a new EV.  More