{"id":59584,"date":"2013-03-27T12:00:18","date_gmt":"2013-03-27T16:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=59584"},"modified":"2013-03-26T10:28:11","modified_gmt":"2013-03-26T14:28:11","slug":"mercedes-plugs-in-with-b-class-electric","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2013\/03\/mercedes-plugs-in-with-b-class-electric\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercedes Plugs in with B-Class Electric"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mercedes rolled out its B-Class Electric at the New York Auto Show.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Slow to embrace the first wave of hybrid power, German luxury makers seem to be in a race to see who can now add more battery-based models to their line-up.\u00a0We saw a flood of new offerings at the Geneva Motor Show, earlier this month, including the first plug-in hybrid from Audi, the A3 e-Tron, as well as the production version of the Mercedes-Benz SLS Electric Drive supercar.<\/p>\n

Mercedes plugs into the New York Auto Show with a decidedly different take on battery propulsion, its new B-Class Electric Drive making its world debut on the German maker\u2019s stand at Jacob Javits Center.<\/p>\n

Set to go on sale in the U.S. early next year \u2013 likely with a focus on the green-minded California market \u2013 the Electric Drive is a battery-electric version of the maker\u2019s compact people-mover, and the only version of the B-Class scheduled for sale in the States.<\/p>\n

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Powering your EV Knowledge!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is no stripped down electric.\u00a0It will be filled with the sort of up-market touches you\u2019d expect from the tri-star brand, asserts Dr. Joachim Schmidt, the Mercedes board member responsible for sales and marketing: “The B-Class Electric Drive meets the wishes of many customers for emission-free driving without foregoing the hallmark attributes of a Mercedes-Benz, namely safety, comfort and, of course, not to forget exhilarating driving pleasure.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Room for five with a range of 115 miles the B-Class Electric is aimed at the California market.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The heart of the five-seat Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive is a lithium-powered electric motor that produces 134 horsepower and 228 pound-feet of torque. That\u2019s roughly equivalent to a 3.0-liter gas engine, Mercedes suggests, enough to launch the battery car from zero to 60 in less than 10 seconds. Top speed is an electronically limited 100 mph.<\/p>\n

Hidden beneath the floor of the passenger compartment, the lithium-ion pack holds 28 kilowatt-hours of energy, enough for as much as 115 miles per charge, Mercedes claims, though final EPA numbers have yet to be released. A two-hour charge at 220 volts should yield about 60 miles of range.<\/p>\n

The basic shape of the Electric Drive is all but identical to conventionally powered versions of the Mercedes B-Class, though a few tweaks have been made to enhance range-extending aerodynamics.<\/p>\n

The interior also echoes the standard-issue B-Class, including the seemingly free-floating telematics system. But some of the display technology has been updated to track functions specific to the vehicle\u2019s\u00a0battery drive. That includes a special power display that shows when power is being drawn down \u2013 or when it is being recaptured by the Electric Driver\u2019s regenerative braking system.<\/p>\n

Like other makers exploring the nascent battery car market, Mercedes plans to keep a close eye on the vehicles it puts into the field and it will permit remote check-up and remote configuration of vehicle operations.\u00a0Buyers also will be able to use a special smartphone app for the \u201cpre-entry\u201d climate control function \u2013 saving energy by pre-heating or cooling the B-Class Electric Drive while it\u2019s still connected to a charger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Slow to embrace the first wave of hybrid power, German luxury makers are adding more electrics to their line-ups. Mercedes introduced its new B-Class Electric Drive at the New York International Auto Show.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59584"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=59584"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=59584"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=59584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}