Want to get a load of the latest in hybrid and electric vehicle technology? Then you’d better be at the Paris Auto Show this August as the industry’s most promising hybrid and electric vehicles take center stage on this unique event.
In case you’re wondering, Mercedes-Benz will be introducing a whole new variant for the A-Class. Rightfully named as the E-Cell, hopefully it will pull in enough crowds at the Show to gain an early step in its production cycle. As far as manufacturing is concerned, there are only going to be 500 units made. Right now, we’re a little lacking on details, but it looks like Mercedes-Benz is set to announce officially the A-Class E-Cell.
Several sources suggest that the A-Class E-Cell will be running a battery pack and controller combo that’s sourced from Tesla. Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler AG happens to own a controlling stake on Tesla, in case you’re wondering.
As far as range goes, the E-Cell will run around 124 miles on a full pack. And it will have around 214 lb-ft torque spilling from its drive wheels. Both the A-Class and the B-Class will be produced at two plants, namely in Kecskemet, Hungary and Rastatt, Germany. As for the 500 test vehicles, well, they’re going to be sold or leased to companies for further testing procedures, of course.
Heads up, folks. Mercedes-Benz has released details on the Vito E-CELL. In case you’re wondering, it’s the all-electric version of the Vito van, kinda’ like the SLS AMG E-CELL, only it isn’t a super car. Nevertheless, it’s sure to save a lot of business folks a lot of money with its all-electric drivetrain.
There are now a hundred units that have been assembled for Mercedes-Benz’s test fleet. And there’s a further 2,000 units that are to be produced beginning next year.
Performance-wise, the Vito E-CELL has around 130 kilometers to run on a full-charged battery, and carries around 900 kilos of hardware. The electric motor has from 60-70 kW of power and 280 Nm of torque to boot—perfect for making deliveries. The single speed transmission may sound boring, but it’s actually enough to get the job done. Speed has been electronically limited to 50 mph, to save the battery’s power. The lithium-ion pack has around 36 kWh capacity, 32kWh of which is committed to the motor.
The Vito E-CELL’s killer tech is its Watchdog safety system. It helps keep damage from power loss to a minimum by preventing unauthorized access. Simply put, it shuts down power when the owner is out of the house. Kinda’ cool, don’t you think?
You thought Mercedes-Benz’s only interested in selling the battery-powered version of the SLS AMG, didn’t you? Well, that ain’t right. Especially now that the company has just revealed that they’re making an electric version of their Vito van as well, and appropriately calls it the Vito E-CELL. Ring a bell? Well, it ain’t as sophisticated nor frighteningly fast as its super car sibling, the SLS AMG E-CELL, but it does offer the quite same line of benefits—zero emission and independence from a petroleum source for fuel.
Due to hit dealer stores next year, Mercedes-Benz decided to upgrade the Vito’s exterior to be worthy of the electric powertrain. A single 70kW motor that gets power from 16 lithium-ion battery packs will drive it. The power modules, to be located underneath the load area, will allow the Vito to travel a maximum of 130 kilometers (80 miles), after which will require six hours to charge using a 400-volt power source.
There’s no reason to fret about space as the Vito E-CELL retains the same cargo area volume as the diesel version, AND only 50 kilos of payload had been compromised in exchange for the electric powertrain. That means you can still carry as much as 900 kilos of cargo.
The thing is about electric cars is that not too many people appreciate them. Not unless you drive one will your really be able to understand the real potential of a car powered by batteries. Former Formula One driver and now DTM racer David Coulthard had the opportunity to test drive a not-so-ordinary electric car and had several things to say about it, most importantly about its potential. The electric vehicle in question here is none other than the SLS AMG E-Cell, the electric version of Mercedes-Benz’s V8 super car.
In the video, you’ll see David being astounded by the E-Cell’s immense torque. There is no delay whatsoever upon flooring the throttle unlike what you’d normally expect from even the V8 in the SLS AMG. And since the E-Cell only has a single gear, it’s like accelerating from zero to 100 km/h with no resistance whatsoever. Since each wheel of the E-Cell is independently run by an individual electric motor, the torque potential for each wheel is unbelievable. Combine zero response time to throttle input and the handling characteristics of an all-wheel drive and you get one of the meanest cornering machines ever made.
Of course, there’s always caveats to great things, and for the E-Cell, it’s the limited top speed and battery life. Consider it an expense you have to suffer for being environmentally friendly and having torque on demand in virtually any cornering situation. Fair price to pay, wouldn’t you say?
Finally, there’s word of the much anticipated electric version of the SLS AMG. Actually, it’s not just hearsay—Mercedes-Benz actually launched a prototype of their electric super car, dubbed the SLS AMG E-Cell, in a lively new color.
Mercedes-Benz calls it AMG Lumilectric Mango, a greenish-yellowish hue that does in fact look like a glowing mango. The SLS E-Cell, much to everyone’s surprise, will have an astounding 526hp and 649ft-lbs of torque at its disposal, courtesy of its unique electric motor that’s capable of revving as high as 12,000rpm. Pretty much like a superbike, don’t you think? Formula One race cars actually idle at around 10,000rpm—just for comparison.
Of course, what else can you expect from an all-electric supercar but an array of equally environmentally friendly technology. Wrapping up the electric super car package are LED headlights that use less power than even high intensity discharge (HID) bulbs. You won’t find LED headlights as standard equipment on premium cars—it has to be a supercar.
THE SLS E-Cell rides on staggered 19-inch wheels up front and 20-inch wheels behind. The interior is a generous display of fine black and white Alcantara with leather lining the steering wheel, seats, the center console and even the linings on the doors.
Performance wise, the SLS E-Cell is expected to sit in the realms of the Porsche 918 Spider as a comparison. So you’ll be pretty darned crazy not to appreciate it despite its being run by batteries.
To support the rising number of electric vehicles in the United Kingdom, Mercedes-Benz and Smart are setting up a program that’ll put EV recharging stations across all their dealerships in Great Britain. Actually, it has already started with around 20 recharging units having been delivered by manufacturer British Elektromotive. These units were distributed among 7 locations, with more units on their way for this year.
Right now, electric vehicles are of high priority for both companies, and that’s why they’re putting in place recharging docks to make things easier on both ends – for dealers and for buyers. Managing Director for Mercedes-Benz Cars Dermot Kelly is glad to have Elektromotive as their partner in putting up the Elektrobay recharging docks. Elektromotive Managing Director Calvey Taylor-Haw adds that its her company’s first time to work so actively with a car manufacturer. She believes the Elektrobay project will revolutionize the way other electric car manufacturers will conduct their business. It’s an entire restructuring of electric vehicle recharging application.
Later his year, probably around summer, Smart will be letting the public have their take on their zero-emission electric drive For-Two vehicles. The Elektrobays have all been set up around various Mercedes-Benz and Smart dealerships to facilitate the test drives.
It’s now written in ink. Daimler AG has just signed a deal with China’s BYD Company Limited. They’re off to build a new brand of electric vehicles for the Chinese market. To be shared equally between the two parties, the new company will be christened the ‘Shenzen BYD Daimler New Technology Co. Ltd.’
That was excruciatingly long, don’t you think? Well, that’s typical for China whose government is very strict on multinational companies planting roots on their soil. Just as well, the two companies will be shelling out at least RMB 600 million as registered capital.
They’re going to be building a new line of electric vehicles that will benefit from both Daimler AG’s expertise in electric vehicle architecture and BYD’s firm grasp on battery technology and e-drive systems.
Both sides couldn’t hold back their anticipation for the team up. BYD Chairman and President Wang Chuanfu acknowledges that his company is going to work very hard with Daimler AG into fully capitalizing on all opportunities. They want the new electric vehicles to enter the market as soon as possible. Daimler AG’s Chairman of the Board of Management, Dr. Dieter Zetsche believes this partnership is positioned perfectly and is well on its way into tapping the untold potential of electric vehicles in China.
Ever wondered what an electric supercar sounds like? It sure as hell won’t be as loud as the V8-powered variant will, but it won’t be as meek as a mouse either. Considering it’s going to be as deathly fast as its internal combustion brethren, there’ll be a lot more purring and whirring to be expected.
Daimler AG stirred up quite a commotion back in the middle of 2009 when it previewed an electric version prototype of the SLS AMG. Now, the company is set to stir up an even bigger ruckus with news of a production-version in the works.
This comes straight from AMG Managing Director Volker Mornhinweg himself, who promised a full production of the electric supercar by the year 2013. This man means what he says, because he has already had time behind the wheel of the prototypes.
Mornhinweg is amazed with the electric motor’s power, describing it as something quite on the level of the internal combustion V8 engine. While the sound of the motor isn’t exactly what you’d expect from a supercar, it’s hair-raising nonetheless.
With four electric motors and a liquid-cooled lithium-ion pack, the SLS AMG EV will feature KERS technology to charge the batteries.
With barely a month since their contract-signing, partners Daimler AG and Renault-Nissan are already coming face-to-face with their apparent differences. Despite having agreed to share resources to develop vehicles and engines, they left one common denominator out of the deal – lithium-ion batteries. Both giants are looking to develop their own brand of lithium-ion packs. Daimler AG is going to work with Evonik to build a lithium-ion factory in Kamenz, Germany. Renault-Nissan, on the other hand, has teamed with Japan’s largest personal computer company, NEC, to set up five shops in Japan, the UK, France, Portugal and the U.S. Neither of the companies plans to give way to the other.
The race to build the best lithium-ion power pack for their cars may spark reasons for the partnership’s demise. If both companies choose to go their own way, their plans to work together in the future may be compromised, according to Mike Tyndall, an automotive expert based in London. With both CEO’s aiming to make their company the pioneer in electric drive systems, it’ll all boil down to which company will be able invest the most on developing the technology and offering the most competitive prices upon entering the market.
The Mercedes-Benz plant in Berlin is to produce a new generation of transmission-integrated electric engines for Mercedes-Benz hybrid vehicles from 2012 onwards. As a result of this decision, the site will add a key technology of the future to its production portfolio. The intensive collaboration between the plant and the research and development departments will create excellent conditions for the further development and production of the latest technologies.
Volker Stauch, Head of Powertrain Production at Mercedes-Benz Cars, says: “The electrification of the drive system will play an important part in mobility in the future. The Berlin plant already has a wealth of expertise in the manufacture of electrically controlled components. Through this decision, this site will play an even more important part in shaping the future drive systems portfolio of Mercedes-Benz.”
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