Category Archives: Mercedes

News and reviews of Mercedes electric cars (including plug-in hybrids).

More new models, tougher CO2 rules poised to boost EVs, plug-in hybrids

April 4, 2019Audi, Electric Cars, Mercedes, MINI, News, Reviews and Comment, Peugeot, Sales, Seat, Skoda, Tesla, Volkswagen, VolvoRepost

A lack of choice has been one reason that buyers in Europe have not fully embraced full-electric and electrified plug-in hybrid cars.

But that is quickly changing as automakers prepare to launch more models to prepare for tougher CO2 emissions regulations that start to take effect in 2020.

The number of EVs on sale in Europe will increase to 24 this year from 18 last year as new vehicles such as the Audi e-tron, Tesla Model 3, Mercedes-Benz EQC, Mini EV and full-electric Volvo XC40 crossover hit the market, according to LMC Automotive data — which excludes very-low-volume niche models. The number of plug-in hybrids will nearly double to 53 this year from 27 in 2018, LMC says.

But the real jump will come in 2020, when the number of full-electric cars on sale doubles to 48 and plug-in-hybrid choice reaches almost 100, according to LMC data.

Next year battery-powered cars underpinned by Volkswagen Group’s flexible MEB electric-car platform and aimed at the mass-market will go on sale. VW brand’s Golf-sized I.D. hatchback will come first but it will soon be followed by MEB cars from the Audi, Skoda and Seat brands. They will have ranges of more than 550 km (342 miles), to ease range anxiety fears among car buyers.

It’s no coincidence that 2020 is also when the EU will start fining automakers if they miss their stricter CO2 reduction targets that are being implemented to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions blamed for contributing to climate change.

“We have only one target, which is to be compliant for CO2 targets for 2020, so 2019 will be the launch of all our electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles,” Maxime Picat, PSA Group’s operations director for Europe, told journalists in January.

All about that bass: carmakers seek electric car sounds for post-petrol era

March 15, 2019Cooper Electric, Electric Cars, Mercedes, MINI, News, Reviews and Comment, VolkswagenRepost

GENEVA (Reuters) – Carmakers are dreaming up futuristic electric car engine sounds to ensure that pedestrians can hear vehicles that lack audible cues like high-revving, howling combustion engines, senior executives at the Geneva car show said.

As BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Mini and VW prepare to launch battery-driven vehicles, carmakers are searching for a new way to market the potency of their zero-emissions vehicles.

“The electric vehicle sound is its identity. It cannot be too intrusive or annoying. It has to be futuristic and it cannot sound like anything we had in the past. We cannot simply add the sound of a combustion engine,” Frank Welsch, responsible for technical development at Volkswagen, told Reuters.

VW’s electric cars will have speakers designed to draw the attention of pedestrians, Welsch said, standing next to a lime- green electric dune buggy being shown in Geneva.

“Performance models need to have a more assertive sound, with more bass. It cannot be a high pitched din, like a sewing machine. It has to be futuristic,” he said, adding that SUVs will have a deeper sound to reflect their bigger size.

Will SUVs Breathe New Life Into The Electric Car Market?

December 8, 2018Electric Cars, EQC EV, I-PACE, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes, Model X, News, Reviews and Comment, TeslaRepost

After decades of ups and downs, electricity is finally emerging as the fuel that will propel the planet into the future as more governments look to address their pollution problems by phasing out vehicles that run on fossil fuels.

As a result, automakers are scampering to flood the market with electric cars, trucks and, especially, SUVs over the next few years.

Nowhere is this more evident than at this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show, which will officially open to the public on November 30. Almost every automaker that is displaying at the downtown convention center, especially in the luxury segment, is looking to discuss its electrification strategy for the next decade with any journalist willing to listen.

Porsche wants 50% of its stable to be electric by 2023. Jaguar Land Rover has announced it will shift production entirely to electric and hybrid vehicles by 2020.

Ford plans to deliver 13 new electrified models over the next five years. General Motors plans to roll out 20 all-electric models by 2023.

BMW will offer 25 electrified vehicles by 2025. Aston Martin expects that EVs will account for 25% of the company’s stable by 2030.

And that’s just the beginning. If projections are correct, there should be 400 electrified models on the road by 2025. That’s 300-plus more EVs and hybrids than are running about today.

The all-electric Mercedes EQ C is ready to fight Tesla

September 26, 2018Electric Cars, EQC EV, MercedesRepost

…and Audi, Jaguar and the world. This is Merc’s plug-in future. Like it?

Up until now, Mercedes’ forays into the world of electric cars have constituted a very rare SLS AMG and a very niche B-class. No longer. This is the Mercedes EQ C, the launch star of the company’s all-electric EQ sub-brand. Looks reasonably close to the EQ concept, don’t you think?

Under its svelte, slightly Range Rover Velar SUV proportions, the EQ C uses a familiar tactic in electric car construction. The 80kWh lithium-ion battery, weighing some 650kg (a quarter of the car’s entire 2.4-tonne mass) lives beneath the floor, keeping the centre of gravity low and improving crash safety. The EQ C’s front electric motor aims to offer the most efficiency, while the rear motor – this is a four-wheel-drive vehicle, like the Jaguar I-Pace and Tesla Model X – is optimised for more punch.

Maximum combined power output is 400 horsepower, while torque is a predictably titanic 765 Newton meters.

In old money – which seems somehow inappropriate for such a modern car – that’s 564lb ft. More than a C63’s V8 offers up, delivered silently. As a result, Mercedes is claiming 0-62mph in a hot-hatch-spec 5.1 seconds, and a modest top speed of 111mph. While v-max is unimportant, range obviously is.

So, in addition to Comfort, Eco and Sport driving modes, you’ll find a Max Range setting in the EQ C. Deploy that and Mercedes claims you’ll travel 280 miles. However, that’s calculated on the old NEDC test cycle, not the new WLTP regulations, so expect a real-world figure somewhere around the 250-mile mark. Next up in the EV checklist: charging. Mercedes has fitted a 7.4kW on-board, water-cooled charger.

The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse

September 24, 2018Audi, BMW, Electric Cars, i3, i3 94Ah, Mercedes, News, Reviews and Comment, Opinion, VolkswagenRepost

By the middle of the next decade, the world as we know it will end. This end is not written in stone, it was not predicted by the Mayans, and it was not foretold by UFO religions.

This end has been sung in the past few years in press releases, statements and interviews. It is the prophesied end of the internal combustion engine. And its killers, the three horsemen of the apocalypse, are finally here, waiting for the fourth to join them.

Until September 2018, the electric car segment has been one of marginal delight, laughter, and discord. Caught between the flamboyant statements showing the impressive sale figures for the Nissan Leaf, the pot-smelling tweets of Elon Musk, and promises made from all over the industry to go all electric, the world watched in amusement and amazement what until now amounted to nothing more than good television.

But no more. The big boys came out to play this month, and their way of playing the game will change the industry. As Turkish used to say, Ze Germans are here. And they are here because they saw something they like.

The three heralds of doom are Daimler, BMW, and Volkswagen. All three, be it in their own name or that of some of their subbrands, revealed in the past two weeks the three horsemen that will shape the future: the EQC, the Vision iNext, and the e-tron SUV.

How will they end the ICE world? Through sheer strength, numbers, and services.

Strength. The three are the biggest players in the automotive industry, period. Combined, their power – read sales numbers, financial figures, pretty much everything – dwarfs any competition.

And it is power that gets noticed. Try as it might, Tesla is incapable of single-handedly change centuries of habits and patterns, of changing rules and regulations, of getting enough government support. But when the likes of Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen step into the room, everything changes.

Numbers. Daimler plans to have on the roads ten different all-electric cars by 2022. BMW has 12 of them in the works, all to be released by 2025. Volkswagen shames both of them with plans to launch 80 new models across its brands by the same year.

Electricity makes strange bedfellows

July 19, 2017Ampera, Blog, C350e PHEV, Electric Cars, Mercedes, Milton Keynes, Renault, Vauxhall, ZOETrevor Larkum

Milton Keynes is the best place for EV spotting. It has so many electric cars that you get to see all sorts.

Here’s an odd mix charging up at lunchtime today. At the left is a Vauxhall Ampera, essentially a rebadged GM Volt, and no longer made. In the middle is the ubiquitous Renault ZOE.

On the right is a Mercedes C350e, the first electric Mercedes I’ve seen in the flesh.

They are all welcome to feast in MK.

Mercedes C350e | Fully Charged

The Mercedes C350e plug in hybrid. A very swish car, amazing technology plus an amateur driver and car reviewer in one neat package.

Mercedes-Benz Starts Delivery Home Energy Storage To Private Individuals

June 11, 2016Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, Energy Storage, Mercedes, News, Reviews and CommentTrevor Larkum

Tesla Motors isn’t the only game in town when it comes to re-branding automotive fame into the energy storage business.

Mercedes-Benz energy storage units for private homes

Daimler has also announced the start of deliveries for its home energy storage systems produced under the Mercedes-Benz brand by subsidiary Deutsche ACCUMOTIVE.

Initially, Daimler entered into the ESS for business and utility companies; today, private homes is the next logical step in leveraging its advantage from developing battery packs for cars.

In case of Daimler, a ‘single block’ stores 2.5 kWh, and up to eight units and be connected for a total of 20 kWh.

Sales through a nationwide network of sales partners, and partner companies, has begun in Germany and will soon be expanded internationally.

Harald Kröger, Head of Development Electrics/ Electronics and E-Drive Mercedes-Benz Cars said that there is

“tremendous interest in our energy storage units and we have already received numerous orders”.

Most of the private homes customers intends to have ESS with photovoltaic system.

New 2017 Mercedes S-Class plug-in hybrid to get wireless charging

March 14, 2016Charging, Electric Cars, Mercedes, News, Reviews and Comment, S 500 Plug-In Hybrid, Wireless ChargingTrevor Larkum

Next generation Mercedes S-Class plug-in hybrid flagship to get clever new charging system, while diesel PHEV will join it

The facelifted Mercedes-Benz S-Class plug-in hybrid will feature high tech wireless charging, according to Jochen Strenkert, Mercedes’ man responsible for hybrid powertrains.

Speaking to Auto Express before the Geneva Motor Show, Strenkert revealed that Mercedes is working in collaboration with arch rival BMW to develop the new tech, sharing the high cost of the new system.

We’ll see the new S-Class plug-in hybrid in summer 2017, while the car will feature Mercedes’ latest third generation hybrid powertrain, boasting a bigger battery pack.

“We already have a working prototype,” Strenkert revealed, adding that “battery capacity is predicted to double every five years, so the next S-Class plug-in will also have an increased range.”

10 Most Fuel-Efficient Luxury Cars Of 2015

September 16, 2015B-Class, BMW, i3, i8, Mercedes, Model S, News, Reviews and Comment, TeslaTrevor Larkum

Kelley Blue Book released its list of the “10 Most Fuel-Efficient Luxury Cars of 2015.”

Ranking is opened by BMW i3 (second year in a row in the # 1 spot), followed by Tesla Model S, Mercedes-Benz B-Class ED, Cadillac ELR and BMW i8. Plug-ins capture the entire Top 5.

Best hybrid is at 6th and with more plug-in models coming, next year plug-ins could take the entire Top 10.

2015 BMW i3
2015 Tesla Model S
2015 Mercedes-Benz B-Class
2014 Cadillac ELR
2015 BMW i8
2015 Lexus CT 200h
2016 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid
2015 Lexus ES 300h
2015 BMW 328d
2016 Audi A3 TDI

About the winner:

“BMW’s i3 tops this list for the second year in a row. This electric 4-door’s design is modern and fresh, and truly stands out on the road. Not only is the i3 the most fuel-efficient luxury car, it’s the most fuel-efficient car, period. Adding a cure for anxiety is an available range-extending gas engine.

City/highway/combined mpge: 137/111/124
Range: 81 miles”

Source: Inside EVs