Mercedes Turns Cars into Cars–offices: CLA Models Now Support Teams, Copilot & Intune | Cool Business Ideas

July 28, 2025July 27, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Mercedes-Benz is redefining the commuter experience: the latest CLA allows drivers to participate in Microsoft Teams video calls using the in-car camera—legally and safely while moving—and includes integrated Microsoft 365 Copilot and Intune management, positioning the vehicle as an official “third workspace.”

Impact:

Mercedes and Microsoft extend the boundaries of vehicle functionality, transforming cars into productivity hubs. Here’s how:

On-the-Go Meetings Drivers can now join Teams video calls via the in-car camera during transit, with the screen automatically blacking out shared content for safety compliance. AI-Powered Ride Assistance Integration of Microsoft 365 Copilot lets drivers handle emails and prep for meetings using voice commands—without needing to touch a device. Corporate-Grade Security With Microsoft Intune built into Mercedes’ MB.OS platform, cars can be managed like corporate devices, supporting enrollment, policies, and remote wiping.

Amazon adds 1,800 electric delivery vans, this time from Mercedes | Mashable

August 31, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

It’s not 100,000 electric delivery vans from new car company Rivian, but Amazon is adding nearly 2,000 new Mercedes vans to its fleet. Instead of diesel or gas-powered vans, however, every vehicle making Amazon deliveries from the German carmaker will be fully electric.

Amazon recently announced a partnership with Mercedes-Benz to incorporate 1,800 new delivery vans into its delivery service across Europe by the end of 2020. Those vans include 1,200 eSprinter vans and 600 eVito vans.

The electric Sprinter van is the newest commercial electric vehicle from Mercedes and is a bigger version of its eVito van, which has 93-mile range. Rivian’s e-vans are supposed to start delivering for Amazon in 2021. Its first two vehicles, an electric pickup truck and SUV with 400-mile range, still haven’t arrived yet.

Study: Men who own luxury cars are often jerks | Fast Company

January 29, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Yes, the drivers of those luxury cars that cut you off really do suck. A new study in the Journal of International Psychology finds that many owners of high-status luxury cars are actually assholes. “The answers were unambiguous: self-centered men who are argumentative, stubborn, disagreeable and unempathetic are much more likely to own a high-status car such as an Audi, BMW or Mercedes,” say the researchers in a press release.

The study surveyed 1,892 Finnish car owners and also analyzed their personality types, an idea inspired by lead researcher Jan-Erik Lönnqvist’s observation that the drivers “most likely to run a red light, not give way to pedestrians and generally drive recklessly and too fast were often the ones driving fast German cars” such as BMWs, Mercedes, and Audis. He knew that previous studies found luxury car drivers more likely to ignore traffic rules and drive “unethically,” but it was unclear why: Was wealth corrupting their behavior?