Benz EVs wanted down under

Mercedes-Benz Australia (MBAu)has enthusiastically raised its hand for the brand’s new electric vehicle family due to be previewed via a concept car at the Paris motor show in October.

And it believes its launch of four plug-in hybrids next month will be an important step towards preparing the Australian market for the EV family’s potential arrival.

As reported separately by motoring.com.au, Benz confirmed the concept’s Paris debut during a future drivetrains media briefing in Stuttgart earlier this week. It is expected to preview a four-door four-seat Grand Tourer that will take on the Tesla Model S from 2018, for which Benz has confirmed a 500km range between recharges and predicted straight-line performance equivalent to the top three current production Benz vehicles.

Benz also revealed for the first time details of the modular and scalable Electric Vehicle Architecture its family of EVs will be based on. The brand is expected to not only show off the concept at Paris but also explain more about the models that will follow and potentially even reveal a name for its new EV sub-brand.

It was confirmed this week the cars will be available for right-hand drive markets, unlike Benz’s current B 250 e electric vehicle.

“What we have seen today looks very exciting, including the 500km range,” MBAu spokesman Jerry Stamoulis told motoring.com.au.

“We don’t have a date yet as to availability and we won’t get that today. We will get more information in Paris about what it is. But our first step is plug-in hybrid and we are starting that in July this year [2016], educating not only the dealers but customer and potential customers of Mercedes-Benz,” he explained.

The first four plug-in hybrids Benz will launch next month will be the C 350 e sedan and sstate, the GLE 500 e SUV and the S 500 e limo. They join the orthodox diesel-electric C 300e and S 300e hybrids already on-sale in Australia. The E 300e has been discontinued because of the imminent arrival of the new generation E-Class.

The recently revealed new generation E 350 e is also on the list to come to Australia in 2017, while the GLC 350 e and GLC Coupe 350 e are under consideration for the future. Ten Mercedes plug-in-hybrids are scheduled for launch internationally by the end of 2017.

The two C-Classes combine a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol four-cylinder engine with a 60kW electric motor and lithium-ion battery pack to produce 205kW, 600Nm and a claimed EV range of around 30km. Claimed fuel consumption is just 2.1L/100km, while the 0-100km/h acceleration time is 5.9sec for the sedan and 6.2sec for the estate.

The GLE and S-Class plug-ins are powered by a 3.0-litre biturbo V6 that combines with an 85kW electric motor to produce 325kW, 650Nm and a claimed 30km EV range. Claimed fuel consumption is just 2.8L/100km for the S and 3.3L/100km for the GLE.

The S reaches 100km/h from rest in 5.2sec and the GLE in 5.3sec.

An important step forward for Benz’s plug-in program will come in late 2017 when the updated S 500 e will launch with an inline six-cylinder engine (LINK), a more powerful li-ion battery pack and improved operating strategy to extend the EV range beyond 50km.

Australian buyer interest in hybrid and EVs has proved miniscule so far, but Stamoulis said it was a case of plugging away with plug-ins to get the message across.

“They [buyers] are not screaming for the vehicles but it’s a matter of try these vehicles out are see what the benefits are,” he said.

“It’s not just about the fuel saving, although that’s certainly a benefit. For example, the C 350 e is a little bit quicker than a C 250 petrol.

“No, we won’t see a spike in EV sales overnight but it’s not something we are ignoring. It’s something we are looking at [in the future] without a doubt,” Stamoulis said.

MBAu’s enthusiasm for new age power solutions doesn’t extend to the 2017 GLC hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, however.

In Stuttgart Benz confirmed it would come to market as a plug-in but Stamoulis said it’s off the radar for Australia.

While there is an issue with hydrogen refuelling infrastructure in Australia, he said the main issue from an Australian perspective was not over-complicating the message it was trying to sell to potential EV buyers.

“There is appeal [with fuel cell], but as for what we can do right now EV is certainly [the choice],” said Stamoulis.

“There is a long term goal which is what we see today [in Stuttgart], but right now it is plug-in hybrid for us.

“Mixing messages is something we are very conscious of too, which is why we are being very structured with how we roll out hybrids. We could have launched a C 350 e earlier and done a staggered approach, but we want people to see there is a C-Class and a GLE. Obviously S-Class won’t be high volumes, but there is more than one option when it comes to plug-in hybrids.”

Stamoulis tempered his enthusiasms for EVs with the reality Australian business cases are hard to pull together because of the lack of subsidies and assistance from state and federal authorities to encourage their sale. The only major political force to offer EV support as part of their current federal election platform is the Greens Party, which has promised to cover registration costs for the first five years.

“The Greens are going it alone. No-one else is saying anything and no-one is talking to us about anything, be it subsidies or a congestion tax,” said Stamoulis.

“Any subsidisation helps because it draws attention to the vehicles,” he said.