Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Mercedes-Benz



At an off-site reception held tonight ahead of tomorrow's opening of the Detroit Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz showed off its new Concept BlueZero. The car is both an example of clean technology and a preview of the styling for the next generation Mercedes B-Class. Like the current A and B class models, this concept uses a sandwich floor design and adds a modular powertrain system. The car is envisioned with three powertrain options depending on the range requirements. The BlueZero E-Cell uses a 35 kWh lithium ion battery pack to provide a 120-mile range, while the BlueZero F-Cell variant gets a 90 kW hydrogen fuel cell for a 240-mile range. The efficiency of the fuel cell version is rated at the equivalent of 81 mpg (US).

The third flavor is the E-Cell Plus and adds a 67-hp three-cylinder engine from the Smart ForTwo mounted in the rear between the sandwich floor layers where the spare tire would normally go. The ER-EV variant cuts the battery size in half as well as the electric-only range. The range extender, however, bumps the total range to 360 miles.

Mercedes also announced that it will begin low-volume series production of the fuel cell B-Class later this year and follow that with low volume series production of a battery electric vehicle in 2010.

Gallery: Mercedes-Benz Concept BlueZero




[Source: Mercedes-Benz]
Live Photos Copyright (C)2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.Continue reading Detroit 2009: Mercedes-Benz Concept BlueZero previews next-gen B-Class

Detroit 2009: Mercedes-Benz Concept BlueZero previews next-gen B-Class originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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01-11-2009 12:59 AM