Based strictly on past U.S. sales numbers, Mercedes-Benz has not been serious about hybrid cars. Between its Mercedes S400 Hybrid sedan and ML450 Hybrid SUV, the company sold 1,21 hybrid units in 2010—representing 0.6% of the overall hybrid market. Yet, Dr. Christian Mohrdieck, Daimler’s director of fuel cell and battery-drive development, last week told HybridCars.com that Daimler, the maker of Mercedes-Benz vehicles, is making a big investment in hybrids. “In the future, we will have hybrid models in all our car lines,” Mohrdieck said. “This is one step to reduce emissions and increase fuel economy.”
The blogosphere will a hundred times echo today's announcement that Mercedes-Benz will offer hybrid versions of its C-, E- and S-class vehicles in the United States and Europe in about three years. Automotive News quoted Herbert Kohler, head of Daimler's E-Drive and Future Mobility unit, who said, “We have a leading position in the premium segment concerning alternative propulsion systems, and we will defend it." Sound familiar? That’s because Daimler comments about future hybrids date back at least seven years.
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[HCDATE] Hollywood has developed a reputation for being home to a swarm of high-profile, EV-driving enviro-celebs, including Leo DiCaprio, Larry David, Ed Begley Jr, and countless others. But that doesn't mean everyone in the entertainment industry is a hybrid-lover. Meanwhile, Neil Young's one-of-a-kind classic plug-in hybrid conversion, the LincVolt, appears to be the culprit in a fire that caused more than $1 million in damage to the singer's San Francisco warehouse.
The new federal fuel efficiency rules announced last week by the Environmental Protection Agency were hailed as a major success by the Obama administration and embraced by carmakers. But many car dealers—the folks closest to the consumer, and the point of sale—are still dragging their feet on hybrids and other fuel-efficient options. In fact, Mercedes dealers are up in arms about Daimler's potential move to make its S-class vehicles exclusively hybrid.
It’s commonly reported that lithium ion batteries will usher in a new era of electric cars and plug-in hybrids. Not exactly, says John German, the engineer who literally wrote the book about hybrid cars for the Society of Automotive Engineers. In an interview with HybridCars.com, German said the next wave of lithium ion batteries will not significantly reduce the cost of electric cars, but they could make conventional hybrids ubiquitous.
It looks like Mercedes has caught hybrid fever. In August, the company launched its Mercedes S400 mild hybrid—the first hybrid from a European automaker and the first hybrid vehicle to use a lithium ion battery. Even more impressive, Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler, is promising a hybrid version of each of Mercedes’s high-volume cars and a plug-in hybrid in 2012.
The growing list of part- or pure-electric cars to be displayed at next week’s Frankfurt Auto Show establishes a new litmus test for green cars at auto shows: Cars without plugs are behind the times.
The Mercedes Benz S400 Hybrid is the world’s first mass produced car with a lithium ion battery. It’s the first Mercedes with a hybrid drive. And, with a price tag likely to approach or exceed $100,000, it’s going to be an ultra-niche vehicle. We achieved 29.3 miles per gallon in a 150-mile mixed driving course though Southern Germany.
Daimler AG, maker of Mercedes-Benz luxury cars, is suing Cobasys for failing to provide hybrid battery packs as agreed for a planned Mercedes-Benz gasoline-electric SUV. An inside source told HybridCars.com that the contract between Cobasys and the hybrid partnership between GM, Daimler, and BMW is “the largest stumbling block in getting this product to market, and hopefully will not sour the North American market on American hybrids.”
Mercedes-Benz will launch an S-Class hybrid equipped with a lithium ion battery in 2009. Dr. Thomas Weber, who is responsible for research at Mercedes-Benz said, “What we have here is a groundbreaking key technology that is going to be a decisive factor for the future success of the automotive industry.”
