Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler AG is developing plans to produce a family of new battery-powered luxury vehicles, the automaker's research chief said. Mercedes also could use software updates to extend the hands-free driving range of its new Mercedes-Benz E-class, which launches later this year, depending on testing underway in Nevada and elsewhere, the automaker's head of research, Thomas Weber, said in an interview late Wednesday on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show.