Detroit: Benz announces global round trip in hydrogen fuel-cell B-Class

Announced by Benz officials at the Detroit motor show, the F-Cell World Drive will put several of the fuel cell-powered B-Class vehicles through its paces across four continents, taking in all manner of terrain, road surfaces and climatic conditions.

The trip is scheduled to take 125 days, during which it will take in 14 countries, including Australia in the last week of March. Starting out from Stuttgart on January 30, it will make its way through France, Spain and Portugal, across the Atlantic to the USA and up into Canada. A diagonal crossing of the Pacific will see it arrive in Australia before making its way across country and up into Asia.

At this point, the company's local operation is still finalising the Australian part of the journey. "We're still working on the exact details of the Australian visit," local spokesman Jerry Stamoulis told the Carsales Network. From China it will start the last leg back to Europe, making its way through Kazakhstan, Russia and northern Europe before reaching Stuttgart at the beginning of June.

Benz R&D head Dr Thomas Weber said in a statement the company had decided the journey is the best way to emphasise the technical maturity of its fuel-cell powered EVs, and the advantages they offer over conventional battery power.

"Such an undertaking would not be possible, using purely battery-powered electric vehicles," he said.

He also outlined how Mercedes-Benz plans to use it to lobby authorities across the world to get to work on building a hydrogen filling station network.

"Today, as with the invention of automobile 125 years ago, the issue of a corresponding fuelling infrastructure arises. But I am confident that together with all of the parties involved we will find a solution that enables us to fully exploit the tremendous potential of this technology."

To mitigate for the absence of filling stations on the trip, Mercedes-Benz has signed a partnership deal with industrial gases and and engineering giant Linde, which has the infrastructure distributed around the world through its local subsidiaries to ensure the availability of hydrogen along the way. Linde helped the company develop a purpose-built tank vehicle to accompany the F-Cells on the trip.

Developed as part of Mercedes-Benz's BlueZero zero-emissions lineup, the F-Cell replaces the lithium-ion battery in its B-Class based sibling with a fuel cell and a small hydrogen tank. The system has long been looked to for its potential to solve range limitation problems endemic to conventional battery packs -- Mercedes-Benz says this model is good for more than 400km on a single tank of hydrogen, consuming the energy equivalent of 2.9L/100km.

On the downside, one problem that has long dogged the technology, has been getting it started in cold weather. Daimler is convinced it has the problem licked -- the car has already endured extensive testing in the Arctic Circle.

Mercedes-Benz has used the dual-layered floor of the B-Class platform (initially developed as the now defunct A-Class) to considerable effect in keeping incursion by the power pack and drivetrain to zero. The sandwich construction provides all the space that's needed to accommodate and insulate the power componentry for the FWD F-Cell. As a result, it retains the petrol/diesel original's full capacity of five seats with 500-litres of cargo space. The mid-engine layout also helps out with driving dynamics, keeping the centre of gravity low and the weight of the powertrain between the axles.

Good for a continuous 70kW (and a peak of 100kW), the F-Cell's electric motor delivers a maximum of 320Nm -- enough for a 0 to 100km/h sprint of around 11 seconds. To optimise energy efficiency and maximise range, the company has capped top speed at 150km/h.

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