Mercedes S400 BlueHybrid aims to be first to use Li-ion battery

There's a decent chance your average hybrid owner wouldn't know the difference between a lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride battery if their life depended on it, but we know you -- dear reader -- are not one of those "average" joes / janes. That being the case, you may be interested to know that the 2009-bound S400 BlueHybrid is in prime position to be the world's first production Li-ion hybrid, which will offer up "compact dimensions and far superior performance" compared to existing rivals. M-B goes on to trumpet the technology's "high ampere-hour efficiency, long service life, and great reliability, even at very low temperatures." No word on just how astronomically high this thing will be priced at, but you can expect just shy of 30 miles-per-gallon in mixed driving conditions, for what it's worth.

[Wolfticket @ Mar 1st 2008 1:08PM]

If I put a 9v battery under the hood of my Hummer will it make it a hybrid?

[gaz @ Mar 1st 2008 1:14PM]

only if its a rechargeable one!

[r3loaded @ Mar 1st 2008 4:24PM]

You got that off Jeremey Clarkson didn't you?

[Wolfticket @ Mar 1st 2008 5:05PM]

Yup, I unashamedly half-inched it. However, I think he has a point, given that hybrid is becoming a catch all term meaning environmentally friendly.

[jordan @ Mar 1st 2008 9:46PM]

sony made batteries?

[Temple @ Mar 1st 2008 10:39PM]

Actually Toyota has been using a Li-on batteries in a production vehicle in the Japanese market Vitz hybrid since 2003.

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/11/05/toyota-secretly-selling-lithium-ion-priuses-since-2003/

Also, there has been a heavy duty Diesel-hybrid in the Mitsubishi Fuso Canter that uses a Li-ion battery

http://www.mitfuso.com/pages/news-hevconcept.html

[John @ Mar 1st 2008 1:11PM]

uh... can't even non-hybrid cars get 30mpg these days?

[Roofus @ Mar 1st 2008 2:21PM]

Exactly what I was thinking, my 1994 940 Volvo get's 25mpg on average.

[SimbaDogg @ Mar 1st 2008 3:54PM]

i dont know why you're higly ranked, cuz honestly thats a stupid thing to say. 1) there's not a lot of 4500+ lb cars that get 30+ mpg. 2) considering that the regular 2008 s550 gets about 14 mpg mixed, i would say a 200% increase in mpg is definitely something to write home about.

[Izzy @ Mar 1st 2008 4:04PM]

@Simbadog... Actually I believe that would be a 100% increase.

Either way, the vehicle weighing 4500lbs is sad. Think about the great mileage it would get if it weighted 3500lbs.

I actually prefer my new Diesel Jetta, not luxurious but nice, and gets 49mpg. And with gas on its way to $4 a gallon this summer (diesel is already at $3.85 in Indpls) we are going to start brewing biodiesel this summer. Oh, and the diesels in the M-B are made by VW.

[SimbaDogg @ Mar 1st 2008 4:25PM]

more than 1 typo in my first post...excuse me. but anyways, a 100% increase is astounding. there's not a single hybrid vehicle on the market (offered as a hybrid and a non hybrid version)that offers a 100% increase in fuel efficiency. to discredit this just because its still getting "only" 30 mpg is really naive. imagine if they offered this as a diesel hybrid in the US, as i'm sure they would do in Europe.

[jordan @ Mar 1st 2008 9:46PM]

sony mande batteries?

[daedric @ Mar 4th 2008 2:49AM]

The point is to be more environmental friendly or produce vehicles that use less oil. You can make a hybrid hummer, and I still wouldn't be impressed if it could now do 20mpg instead of 10mpg. I am astounded by how many people are driving huge trucks and SUV still as gas prices continues to climb. Everytime I look, the most passenger it would have is 2, most of the time is 1. Anyways, hybrid technology is useful if people make it out to be. I dont care for 20mpg hummers, because those mileage still sucks.

[Joe B. @ Mar 1st 2008 1:17PM]

At first I thought the title read "Mercedes $400...". I almost crapped myself. Luckily I re-read it and stopped that from happening.

[Rudiger @ Mar 1st 2008 2:24PM]

Thanks for letting us know the series of events that entailed your prairie-dogging.

[Alex Kirby @ Mar 1st 2008 1:23PM]

It like to see what kind of explosion you can get from those batteries. I mean If you can blow a laptop fancy a whole car full of them

[cmonkey @ Mar 1st 2008 2:21PM]

They are almost certainly using the far more stable LiFePO4 cells, probably from A123Systems.

[Wwhat @ Mar 2nd 2008 5:04AM]

I just hope someone has the presence of mind to youtube it.

[Python2121 @ Mar 1st 2008 1:26PM]

An expensive car for rich people, but who else can afford the latest and greatest anyway.

[gotleib1 @ Mar 1st 2008 4:09PM]

Do you have a little anger against the wealthy?

[iliarules @ Mar 1st 2008 1:34PM]

So Mercedes is making a hybrid that gets the same gas mileage as their non-hybrids... but we're supposed to be impressed because it uses lithium batteries. Maybe it'll really be impressive when it's actually superior in some way to a regular car.

[Windzilla @ Mar 1st 2008 1:40PM]

Like acceleration? Because if it uses the electrical drive for that, than it will be far superior off the line. assuming they make some good propulsion choices

check out
http://www.acpropulsion.com/
and
http://www.wrightspeed.com/specs.html

[CraigJ @ Mar 1st 2008 1:45PM]

Uh, no. The current non-hybrid s-class gets 13 MPG, although it is a v-8. I can't see the 6 cylinder version of that engine getting 17 more miles out of a gallon of gas in that chassis...

[Bloobie @ Mar 1st 2008 4:19PM]

Yet another person who gets high-ranked for some unknown reason. Find another high-end luxury sedan, in the same league as an S-class such as this, which gets 30MPG.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Mar 1st 2008 8:22PM]

@Bloobie

The Lexus LS600h Hybrid is the car many believe has surpassed the S-Class in terms of Luxury, Performance, and gets decent fuel economy which begs the question: If you are spending more than $100,000 on a car, then I doubt you are really concerned about fuel economy or the cost of fuel to begin with; but if you are, then a car like this really is not for you to begin with.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/02/26/video-autobloggreen-reviews-the-lexus-ls600h-l/
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=1752
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexus_LS#LS_600h_.2F_LS_600h_L

[John @ Mar 1st 2008 10:33PM]

ahem: http://begthequestion.info

[Irfan @ Mar 2nd 2008 10:16AM]

@I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY: well the LS600h is a hybrid as well, and I thought he was referring to luxury and fuel economy, not just flat out luxury, so I don't think your argument works. Also, the LS600h gets 21mpg averaged out, only 2mpg higher than the LS460's 19mpg (I got hose numbers from the article you referenced yourself). Luxury cars are heavy, 30mpg is pretty damn good.

Besides, who said the rich are worried about gas money? maybe they just done like the inconvenience of pumping gas that often and would prefer to do it only half as much? in the case of the 600h, its just a status thing.

[Matt Chalmers @ Mar 1st 2008 1:36PM]

Even my 1997 Vauxhall Vectra gets 30mpg, and it cost me £500... if this Merc comes in at £50,000 (likely to be more than that) I can buy about 45,500 litres of petrol which will get me 360,000 miles, or about 15 times round the Earth! I know which I'll stick with...

[bob sakamano @ Mar 1st 2008 1:48PM]

Well when you make a couple hundred thousand a year, like the poeple who can afford this, do you think they want to drive a 1997 anything?

[BigD145 @ Mar 1st 2008 3:04PM]

I wish they would. Just because you can afford expensive toys doesn't mean you should actually buy anything and everything under the sun.

[Twitchy @ Mar 1st 2008 7:43PM]

@ Matt Chalmers: Although your Opel, er I mean Vauxhall Vectra gets 30mpg too, chances are that a) the state of the ark exhaust system is nowhere near as clean as that on a new MB, and b) unlike you car, the MB will not disintegrate to rust after 25 years, nor will it implode and kill all occupants in a crash involving speeds greater than stop.

@BigD145:

Unlike you, I realise that people who buy luxury vehicles etc. are not only contributing to the economy (a good thing for all, except communists and hippies) but the profits companies make from such sales are used to fund R&D. New technologies trickle down from the expensive luxury models down to 'normal' models - eg. ABS, GPS, airbags, IR reflective window coatings etc. etc. etc.

[L. M. Lloyd @ Mar 2nd 2008 5:07AM]

You know Bob, not everyone with money is a complete tool. My wife and I could afford any car we want, and we ride bicycles and public transportation everywhere. My wife had a boss, at a major film studio, who made more than anyone would think was reasonable, and hadn't owned a car in over 20 years. Just because some jackasses feel the need to demonstrate their wealth through driving around in a 5000 pound status symbol, doesn't mean that everyone with that kind of money compulsively needs to buy a new car every couple years.

[DanielShane @ Mar 1st 2008 2:47PM]

This is blasphemy... My 94 escort gets 38 MPG. stupid stupid stupid..

[pfromg @ Mar 1st 2008 7:10PM]

For those that want to drive a pile of crap, there is always your trusty 94 escort, which i'm sure you would be willing to rent out.

However , the options are somewhat restricted when it comes to saving the planet and looking respectable.30mpg is very good for a respectable car, but clearly not competitive as a piece of crap.

[m @ Mar 1st 2008 2:06PM]

aside from the infuriating, stubborn refusal to offer energy efficient cars that the public can actually afford, what really gets me is that both rich buyer and manufacturer will probably get a tax credit for these things. our societal priorities are totally wrong. and don't lecture me about capitalism, please. the market is rigged.

[Paul L. @ Mar 1st 2008 2:31PM]

Can the author correct the name. Mercedes' diesel technology is called "BluTech" not "BlueHybrid".

Other than that, good article.

[David @ Mar 1st 2008 2:53PM]

BlueTec is their diesel brand name, however this S400 isn't a diesel, it's a gas-electric hybrid and BlueHybrid is what M-B is calling this.

[Bloobie @ Mar 1st 2008 4:20PM]

BLUETEC is their exhaust treatment technology for diesel-powered cars, not the name of their hybrid technology.

[Paul L. @ Mar 1st 2008 4:51PM]

Sorry I misunderstood. They also have a BlueTec diesel hybrid coming out, the S300.

[fenix @ Mar 1st 2008 2:05PM]

Mercedes is just trying to catch up to BMW's Hydrogren-powered 7 series.

(and for god's sake, please change those stock s-class rims...gah!)

[austin @ Mar 1st 2008 2:38PM]

Those arent the stock rims. They are the stock rims for the hybrid. Look at cars that are stock and then compare them to their hybrid siblings and tell me which one has the butt-ugly rims

[bob sakamano @ Mar 1st 2008 2:06PM]

while we are on the subject of cars, these m3 ads are getting out of contRol

[David @ Mar 1st 2008 2:09PM]

Hybrids aren't always about fuel efficiency, many cars use them for more power instead.

But anyways, while this isn't exactly the fairest comparison, the S550 (petrol) gets 16mpg, while this S400 gets nearly twice that. I'd say that's very good.

[Rik @ Mar 1st 2008 2:09PM]

Conventional Li-ion batteries or the new high(dis)charge ones? The last thing would really make sense in a hybrid.

[rafa @ Mar 1st 2008 2:09PM]

(In the future)

Yea, my new dodge viper has 440 liion power.

[Kurian @ Mar 1st 2008 2:14PM]

Li-On are in your engine, blowing up your cars.

[western @ Mar 1st 2008 2:21PM]

30 miles-per-gallon - is that highway??

[Paul L. @ Mar 1st 2008 2:32PM]

Sorry I spelled it wrong "BlueTec"

[JeffM @ Mar 1st 2008 2:43PM]

30MPG isn't too bad for a land-yacht, but my friend swears his gasoline based S550 gets a mixed 20MPG- which isn't bad either for a two-ton plus V8. Which with the EPAs 16/24 rating of this guy, is somewhat believable. I think I'd opt for a diesel S before the hybrid.

[pfromg @ Mar 1st 2008 6:58PM]

no , just expensive toys.