Hello, dear reader. Another busy week of publications around the web. Let's dive right in!

Ford's been talking up its plans to release a sub-$30k EV for almost exactly a year now, but talking in rounded-up generalities is a little less significant than sticking an MSRP and a name on something. That's exactly what the company did this week.

It's called the Fathom, and it'll start at a base MSRP of $28,350, plus $1,595 destination. That's just a few grand more than the Slate Truck for a machine that, by the sound of things, will offer just about all the creature comforts we've come to expect in a modern car.

Things like, you know, paint.

The good news for Slate is that the Fathom is still a year or more away. Is that enough time for the company to establish itself? I delve into the details a bit more over at The Verge.

A few months back I was lucky enough to spend a long weekend in one of the first Corvette Grand Sport X coupes to roll off Kentucky’s historic production line. I spent that time crossing many of the best roads that Colorado had to offer, coincidentally many of which I'd driven years earlier on the launch of the E-Ray.

The E-Ray, the first hybridized Corvette, was a machine that apparently confused many of the Stingray faithful. So, rather than bring it back, Chevrolet retooled it to create this new machine. Fitted with the upgraded hybrid system that powers the 1,250-horse ZR1X, plus an all-new V8 in the back, the Grand Sport X brings some substantial new hardware to the table.

More interesting, though, are the tweaks in the dynamic suspension and dynamics algorithms that create a surprisingly different feeling sports car. I really enjoyed it, but I'm also not convinced it's in keeping with the Grand Sport ethos of a pure, handling-focused Corvette.

While Benz's prior electric sedans didn't quite fit into the company's well-defined template, the latest is much more in keeping with C-Classes of yore. I drove it in Europe a few weeks ago and generally really enjoyed it. It drives great, is extremely comfortable, and while its styling is a bit debatable, I think most folks will find it more visually endearing than the EQE and EQS that came before.

I didn't love the interior, it has a similar vertical dash setup to the one I found claustrophobic in the CLA, but otherwise I was quite enamored of it. For all the details, check out my impressions here:

That's not the only new EV from Mercedes. The company has a new GLA in the hopper, and this time its most accessible SUV is going to be available with either battery or hybrid power.

While I know which one I'd choose, choice is certainly good, especially in this incredibly fragmented global marketplace. From what I could see of the pre-production models I got to poke around in, there's nothing more than a tiny difference in cargo capacity between the two models.

The new GLA is not due out for about another year, so we have plenty yet to learn, but my initial impressions are good, and you can read all the details here:

That's all for this week. I'm off to Monterey in the week ahead to see the new unvevils, the impossibly limited series, and yet another raft of ridiculous restomods. It'll be posh as always, but more than a little humbling, too.

Stay tuned for more on that. Until then, be well, and do good!