Hybrid Mercedes unveiled
Mercedes-Benz unveiled its DIRECT and BLUETEC hybrid concept cars at Frankfurt.Based on the new S-Class the concepts deliver markedly improving fuel consumption and emissions via a combination of optimised petrol and diesel engines and electric motors.
Dubbed "mild hybrids", the concepts' combustion engines switch off whenever they are not needed such as in stop-start traffic. At other times, a la Toyota's Prius and RX400H production cars, the combination of combustion engine and electric motor provide spirited performance. The electric motor also reclaim energy during coasting and braking.
Benz claims a 20 per cent reduction in fuel consumption in the diesel BLUETEC HYBRID relative to the conventional model. The saving is as much as a 25 per cent in the petrol-engine DIRECT HYBRID.
Mercedes says the vehicles' consumption and environmentally-compatible emission level aims are not achieved at the expense of ride comfort, dynamics or safety.
Dr Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of DaimlerChrysler AG responsible for research and technology and for development at the Mercedes Car Group told the Frankfurt audience the driving conept behind the cars was "...To make petrol cars as efficient as diesels, and diesels as clean as petrol cars."
The BLUETEC HYBRID features Mercedes' new 3lt V6 diesel in the new S-Class an a high-torque electric motor. BLUETEC itself is the name given to a new exhaust gas purification technology that Mercedes says reduces the nitrogen oxides by about 80 per cent through selective catalytic reduction (SCR). This technology makes the BLUETEC HYBRID the cleanest diesel in the world the maker claims.
DIRECT HYBRID is Mercedes' optimized petrol-engined car. Featuring second-generation spray-guided petrol direct-injection system and the current 3.5-litre V6 as the base engine, the DIRECT HYBRID incorporates a compact, high-torque electric motor.
The drive system of the S320 BLUETEC has a combined output of 179kW and 575Nm. The car can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 7.2sec and its top speed is electronically-limited to 250km/h. The vehicle is extremely fuel efficient says Benz, consuming only 7.7lt/100km in the conventional Euro fuel consumption cycle. The corresponding performance of the S 350 DIRECT HYBRID is: 221kW; 395Nm, 7.5sec, 250km/h and 8.3lt/100km.
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