Electric Mercedes-Benz coming in 2010

Unlike Audi and friends, Mercedes has actually had its eye on non-gasoline burning vehicles for some while. According to a recent interview, Daimler's chief executive was quoted as saying that an "electric Smart [was planned] for 2010," and he continued by asserting that an electric Mercedes model would be arriving "the same year." Sadly, he didn't budge when pushed for pricing details, but he did note that cost would depend greatly "on whether it sells the batteries or leases them." Heck, there was even a mention of a fuel cell car in 2010, but we'd prefer to keep our hopes and expectations well beneath the stratosphere.

[Via BenzInsider]

[ybd @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:13PM]

Oh good lemme get my wallet

[Flashpoint @ Jun 23rd 2008 7:10PM]

The S400 is a concept. I doubt it will be released in this form.

I own an S550 and I'd be really psyched to see this actually come out. If any company can make it happen its Mercedes Benz cause they are on top of every technology innovation (Karl Benz built the first car by the way).

I am hoping to replace my S550 with the next S-class they churn out. I'm thinking it will be the Ocean Drive concept design with higher fuel efficiency.

[engadgetier @ Jun 23rd 2008 8:29PM]

ill get my arm and leg ready... =P

[BigBirdUK @ Jun 23rd 2008 9:21PM]

@Flashpoint.

Depends what your definition of "first" car is. I'd suggest Karl Benz did NOT build the first car.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_automobile

Also disagree that MB are on top of every innovation. Especially if you compare to BMW who are streets ahead on current CO2 + MPG measures in todays cards.

[BigBirdUK @ Jun 23rd 2008 9:22PM]

cars not cards. BMW are woeful at building cards.

[Norock @ Jun 23rd 2008 10:58PM]

From your own comment, BigBird, it looks like Flashpoint has a bit of a case. The caption under the Mercedes car cites it as being "the first car to go into production with an internal combustion engine". So it may not be the first self-propelled vehicle, per se, but it's safe to call it the first "car" -- as the word is used nowadays -- that was available for the public to buy.

[BigBirdUK @ Jun 24th 2008 2:59AM]

@norock

Don't agree using the very same wiki:

"Belgian-born Etienne Lenoir made a car with an internal combustion engine around 1860"

So, as I said, it all depends on your definition of "first".

[Jeremy K. @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:16PM]

This weekend only the new Electric Mercedes-Benz, now only one ninety nine ninety nine ninety nine ninety nine!

[Lowest Ranked @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:29PM]

Only $19,999?

I'll take three.

[Lowest Ranked @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:30PM]

You know what? I've always hated math.

/fail

[Decoy @ Jun 23rd 2008 6:08PM]

I'll take a hoverboard.

[phanbouy @ Jun 23rd 2008 6:37PM]

i'll take a hovercraft full of eels

[Vidit Bhargava @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:25PM]

cool

[thedesolate1 @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:28PM]

Suuuuure they were planning an electric car... *rolls eyes*

[CraigJ @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:34PM]

Lease? No thanks.

[Thi mam(kris120890) @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:36PM]

Mercedes-benz are some of the worst built cars and are constantly at the bottom of the worst built tables, so be sure to get leathered up as if your involved in some wierd fetish because your sure to be electrocuted a multiple of times. :)

[anonymouspimp @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:56PM]

Worst built cars? Mercedes? What the heck are you talking about?

I would LOVE to see these "worst built tables" you are referring to... link me up!

[Erasure25 @ Jun 23rd 2008 6:11PM]

It's true. Mercedes gets mediocre, at best, scores when its comes to dependability. This is from JD Powers. Just because it costs a lot doesn't mean its built well.

[darkstar @ Jun 23rd 2008 8:12PM]

wait. are you sure??? i paid $2000 for my Bose speakers. they must be the best money i can buy!!!
hahaha. Mercedes are crap. used to be good.

[BigBirdUK @ Jun 23rd 2008 9:26PM]

The problem with JD Power is that it bases it's findings on user expectations. Premium brands, predictably, tend to have higher expectations.

I'd suggest once you normalise that out, MB are no better or worse then most other brands. Lexus famously excels in JD Power but i'd end up killing myself by falling asleep in one!

[happy_penguin @ Jun 24th 2008 2:28AM]

Mercedes Benz does rank quite low in the top twenty brands according to the JD Power 2007 Vehicle Dependability Study:

http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2007130

But as I keep trying to say to people, low in the top 20 does not equal crap. Occupying the lowest ten slots are from the bottom: Land Rover, Suzuki, Isuzu, Saab, Volkswagen, Mazda, Kia, Saturn, Nissan and Porsche.

The truth is, automobiles are so well made these days that they're splitting hairs on the rankings. Most American automobiles have been consistently near the middle and above and the so-called benchmark Toyota fell five places last year. Mercedes Benz is above average. That's pretty damn good although not what one would expect from such a premium marque. Jaguar has above average ratings thanks to acquisition by Ford, an American company.

People need to stop bashing companies when they are doing a decent job. To say that Mercedes Benz is below where they should be is probably true, but to call their cars crap is quite frankly, utter crap.

[Shahryar @ Jun 24th 2008 10:44AM]

I've always been hesitant to purchase german cars because I always thought the cost of maintenance was high - at least that's the warnings I got in general from current owners. Is that really the case? If so, why?

When it comes to car purchases, I'd like to be in it for the long haul so the overall cost of maintenance matters to me. I bought an '04 Accord w/ Navi back in 2004 when it was new and have now put 110k+ miles on it (At the time, the Navi alone was the main reason I wanted to get this car). So far, nothing's broken, I've doing oil changes every 10k miles and my scheduled maintenances.. the car's been very inexpensive to maintain. Could I expect this out of Mercedes or any other German car? Or is this a Honda/Japanese thing (in which case, I'll hold out for an electric Lexus or settle on a Hybrid Lex in the near future - income allowing of course).

After being happy with my Accord, I made my dad get an '07 CR-V w/ Nav in May 2007 and my wife get an '07 Accord in late '07 (Both new).

[happy_penguin @ Jun 24th 2008 11:05AM]

It obviously isn't a Japanese/Honda thing since Buick, Cadillac and Mercury best Honda in the 2007 JD Power rankings, and Japanese makes such as Suzuki, Isuzu, Mazda and Nissan are building some of the lowest quality cars on the planet. Check the link in my last post.

[Rob @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:36PM]

Like they say "If you have to ask, you can't afford it."
Come on people, it's a Mercedez. If the average "good" Mercedez goes for around $100,000, what makes you think this would be any cheaper.

[Mark @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:38PM]

Why can't an affordable electric car come out that people can actually PURCHASE ?

[BigBirdUK @ Jun 23rd 2008 9:39PM]

Patience Mark.

Technology tends to trickle down from expensive brands. It's a classic early adopter arguement. Let the well heeled fund the R&D 'till they hit upon a sucess story. Optimise and industrialise will follow and before you know it you'll be cruising in an affordable plug-in!

ABS, Airbags, Sat Nav, Aircon, Passive/Active safety has all been handed down from Motorsport via Halo brands over the last 20-30 years.

[Richard Lai @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:40PM]

I've heard that it's quite expensive to replace the dead battery after 3 years, and that it would make more sense to buy a new car which would be more efficient by then. Any comments on this?

[Lowest Ranked @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:42PM]

Just this one.

[Richard Lai @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:46PM]

BTW my comment refers to all hybrid and electric cars.

[ddub @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:49PM]

I think that's why their tossing around the leasing option.

[ddub @ Jun 23rd 2008 6:08PM]

*they're

Anyone else have the dyslexia that makes you switch from they're to their and it's to its?

[Richard Lai @ Jun 23rd 2008 6:09PM]

@ddub: that's no worse than saying "could of" instead of "could have".

[Steve A. @ Jun 23rd 2008 6:38PM]

I have yet to hear of any hybrid cars needing new batteries, even the first gen prius, which is nearing a decade old now. I'm not sure where you're getting this three year lifespan idea.

[Richard Lai @ Jun 23rd 2008 6:49PM]

@Steve A.: I was told that over a dinner, and yes I thought the same as you too back then, hence my question here.

But your hybrid must be doing very well.

[ddub @ Jun 23rd 2008 7:11PM]

@Steve

I think lith-ion batteries have a shorter life-span, maybe that's what he's talking about. Although I believe A123 has developed one with a supposed 10 year life cycle.

[DonC @ Jun 24th 2008 10:25AM]

In CA the zero emission mandate prompted car companies to roll out electric cards like the GM EV1. Among other things, the tests showed that the batteries held up much better than anticipated. (Another was that the fleet vehicles got tired a lot faster than the vehicles owned by individuals.) Because the car companies have destroyed the earliest cars we don't know how long the batteries would have lasted, and they wouldn't be the lithium batteries you'd have to use for an electric car. However, for the Volt and the plugin Prius I think the aim is for a stated life of 10 years or 100/150 000 miles, but my guess would be the batteries will beat this.

[Colin B @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:42PM]

Where is Flashpoint to wave his Mercedes flag? I'd sure love to hear how great the S-Class is right now, and I was sure I'd get a healthy dose reading the comment section...

[Chicksta @ Jun 23rd 2008 8:16PM]

Oh, don't worry. He had to comment to the first post to ensure he was at the top of the comment chain.

[kjb434 @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:49PM]

When it gives the same performance as the gas/diesel versions and the ramp up in my electric bill is less that cost of filling a tank for the same miles driven, then i may consider it.....

[ddub @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:52PM]

Well its acceleration is much better than your diesel, and the electric bill will cost much less than diesel. So I think its time to dust off your wallet.

[kjb434 @ Jun 23rd 2008 6:07PM]

How many kWh will this draw on my home power?

Also, unless all you home power is coming from wind, hydroelectric, or nuclear, you are still using fossil fuels since your power plant may be coal or natural gas.

[ddub @ Jun 23rd 2008 6:26PM]

A tesla gets 4mi/kWh. I would expect a car that's not coming out for a couple years to improve on that. An electric car gets 90% efficiency why an IC get 20%. I believe power plants get 70% efficiency on average, but not sure on that number. And some of your power is from wind, hydro, nuclear, and much from natural gas. And that can be improved while everyone is making a slow switch over to electric.

[source] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster

[Steve A. @ Jun 23rd 2008 6:47PM]

Keep in mind that you'd charge an electric car at night, when power is off peak and regardless of the lack of draw, most powerplants are still operating near their daytime capacity output. That means the coal plants are still spewing the same amount of pollutants at 2am, regardless if anyone is taking their feed. That's why power companies are willing to 'waste' electricity to pump water uphill back into reservoirs at night. They need to send their excess electricity somewhere.

Most off-peak billing is near $0.04 a kWh. Depending on your location, say southern California, the same power during the mid afternoon would cost you $0.18 kWh. Current electrical capacity can more than handle the demand of everyone charging an electric car at night.

[BigBirdUK @ Jun 23rd 2008 9:35PM]

@Steve A. Actually that's not wholly true, especially if there was a huge swing to electric cars which might disrupt the night cycle gen model. And mass market appeal is the future of electic cars surely?

Well worth reading this weeks Economist (July 21st) which has a 14 page special on alternative fuels and generating models.

[ddub @ Jun 23rd 2008 5:55PM]

Good night I hope you don't come back.

[Richard @ Jun 23rd 2008 6:01PM]

Civic and Corolla need hurry up make a electric version, those are the car that most peoples will buy.

[MattNL @ Jun 23rd 2008 6:09PM]

Now for a way to shut people up when they are being overrun, and we can go for the silent kill in 2010 already. The streets will never be the same for blind people...

[Erasure25 @ Jun 23rd 2008 6:10PM]

Mercedes gets mediocre scores when its comes to dependability. I'm not a real big fan of Mercedes.

[LJKelley @ Jun 23rd 2008 10:12PM]

Actually Mercedes-Benz got 3 awards from J.D. Powers this year. One of those was for the E Class, used due to their dependability and comfort as Taxis across Europe.

http://benzinsider.com/2008/06/mercedes-benz-receives-3-awards-for-best-product-quality-from-jd-power/

There is alot of dirt that has been slung around, mainly due to poor radiators in the 2001-2002 C Class. But overall if you look at the entire history, Mercedes is dependable and also extremely innovative.

[chris @ Jun 23rd 2008 6:28PM]

woah, you go to sleep at night too? i thought i was the only one.