back to article Plug-in Mercedes hybrid saloon emerges

Mercedes Benz is working at “full steam” to bring a plug-in hybrid version of its S-Class über saloon to market. Merc_Vision_S500_01 Mercedes' Vision S500 plug-in hybrid That's according to Mercedes' Dr. Thomas Weber, who today announced the Vision S500 plug-in hybrid. Powered by a 3.2l V6 petrol engine and a 44kW (59bhp …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
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    Bollocks!

    So the S400 BlueHybrid, which also has a 3.5 L V6 engine and a tiddly electric motor, manages 29 mpg, and yet we're expected to belief this new S500, seemingly with very similar powerplants can hit almost 90 mpg? Oh, on top of that they've managed to drop the 0-60 time by 2 s and reduce CO2 emissions from 190 g/km to 74 g/km! Anyone else smell the bullshit? I'm starting to get tired of the coverage manufacturers get for their weak attempts at being green.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    @AC's Bollocks!

    Perhaps yoou failed to notice that the S400 has a Tiddly (oh you got that) electric motor and the S500 has a motor three times as powerful yes 60HP not 20HP(No way near similar!) , meaning, guess what? more power, faster acceleration but also and crucially three times the Regenerative Braking! meaning, guess what? More Power, in saved energy! Hence, More Miles Per Gallon!. But hey lets not stop there... The S500 has the Battery Pack in the Boot, why was that? well I recall reading that its bigger, Meaning, guess what? More Power! are you spotting a trend yet? Dont forget that the MPG is a combined calculation based on more short (electric) journies and a few longer (petrol) journies. so by improving the short journey ability and improving recovery the MPG figure becomes a lot greater. and the emissions a lot less!

    Basically this car can achieve the figures stated by being good on shorter (all electric) journies! having a huge 60HP Boost instead of 20HP and recovering so much more regenerativly.

    More electrical power and better recovery = More efficient use of petrol!!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    we need a new term

    for crap like this - i smell a car that will get around congestion charges blah blah - and will manage about 300 yards on electric power, will burn more petrol than clarkson wearing lead boots and its a merc, so it will be broken most of the time.

    will have to mention something about London - just because

  4. bemused

    Performance?

    OK, it can do a few miles on battery alone... I can believe that perhaps but with only 59bhp in electric mode, and the weight of an S-class.... that's not even going to keep up with a G-Wiz around town without firing up the petrol engine, is it?

  5. multipharious
    FAIL

    Obey the law

    @AC - quantum mechanical violation of the second law of thermodynamics?

    Nothing is free. But to be fair Mercedes would never fake results:

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/29/mercedes_brake_test_fiasco/

  6. Pete James

    stop-gap model

    It's another toddler's step by another auto firm, using largely off-the-shelf components while the more radical stuff is on the CAD station. I'll use the word radical a bit advisedly here though; any car firm could introduce a hybrid that is far more newsworthy if they dared to really think hard enough. But as effecting such a sea change can potentially damage existing sales then I can understand - if not wholely agree - with small movements such as this.

  7. Sir Lancelot
    Joke

    A tad slow isn't it?

    I'll wait for the AMG version

  8. Trygve

    needs independent testing but...

    ... it could be true if the engineers have been allowed to build a power train with the same overall specs but at two or three times the expense, allowing more fancy materials/engineering.

    But I won't believe it either until I read it from some source other than a press release.

  9. Anonymous Coward
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    Re: @AC's Bollocks!

    Well Mr Smartass, explain this. How come the latest version of the Prius, which has an 80 bhp electric motor (Read: MORE powerful than the Merc) a FAR less powerful and more efficient engine, is FAR lighter than this Merc monster yet only manages a combined fuel consumption of 72 mpg and a 0-60 time of around 10 s?

    Hopefully even a dullard such as yourself can now see that the numbers simply do not stack up.

  10. Peter Bond
    Happy

    MPG

    I suspect the MPG is so much higher than the Prius because the Merc is a plug-in. Over any of the standard fuel consumption cycles those fist 20 odd "petrol free" miles are going to have a major effect on the consumption arithmetic. I thought we'd sorted this out with the Volt consumption claims! If memory serves one European standard driving cycle involves driving at various speeds for around 20 minutes - this Merc is going to be able to cover a big chunk of that on battery power alone. If you filled / charged it up, hit the M1 in London and floored it all the way to Leeds would you get 88mpg? Of course not, but that is not how standard fuel consumption tests are done.

  11. Paul Parkin

    @AC 13:57

    The Prius has a tiddly little engine to keep it at motorway speed whereas the Merc has a much more powerful V6 mated to what's probably the 7 speed gearbox MB make. The lack of power means the tiny engine has to work much harder on the motorway whereas the big Merc probably sticks itself in 7th gear and cruises quite happily ay 56mph, baring in mind a Veyron at normal speeds uses only 50BHP to haul it's 2 tonne self along!

  12. Anonymous Coward
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    @ Paul Parkin

    Oh those silly engineers at Toyota. If only they'd shoved a whopping great 3.5 l V6 into their Prius they'd be sitting pretty at 90 mpg! NO. You will never get such high fuel efficiencies from such a large engine, it goes against the laws of physics. Merc have cooked the numbers on this one - perhaps in the way Peter Bond describes above. Shameful.

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