Mercedes-Benz unveiled its new BlueZERO concept car that comes in three flavors of green driving technology.  You can pick an electric, hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell version.

According to EVWorld, all three versions are five-seater vehicles that share the same “unique sandwich-floor architecture” developed ten years ago for A and B class cars.  This underbody placement has allowed for the integration of alternative drive systems while conserving space.

The electric and hybrid versions of the BlueZERO known as the E-cell and E-cell Plus respectively, both use a Li-Ion batteries.  The purely electric version uses a 35 kilowatt per hour battery and has a range of 200 kilometers or about 124 miles.  This is the only one of the three concept cars that is currently slated to enter production.  The E-cell Plus and F-cell are concept only for the moment.

The hybrid version uses a 17.5 kilowatt per hour battery and adds a combustion engine for power generation (range extender).  The E-cell Plus is able to go 100 kilometers (62 miles) on electric power alone.  When the combustion engine kicks in, it extends the range approximately another 500 kilometers (310 miles) for a total of 600 kilometers (373 miles) altogether.

The energy source used in the E-cell Plus depends on the driving situation.  The BlueZERO will use electric only for low speeds and parking.  Both electric and combustion engines are used for acceleration.  While braking, the electric motor recharges the battery.

The BlueZERO F-cell is the hydrogen fuel cell version.  This car gets 400 kilometers or 249 miles per tank.  Since tanks of hydrogen are not readily available, this car has very little likelihood of becoming a marketable model.

As the name implies, all three of the BlueZERO versions share most of their electrical components.  All three have the same “100kw permanent-magnet synchronous electric motor (BLDC) that revs to a maximum of 13,280 rpm” and all have front wheel drive.

Should Mercedes choose to put another version of the BlueZERO into production more than likely that version will be the E-cell Plus which is a plug in hybrid and a more realistic model than the hydrogen powered F-cell.  Plug in hybrids will be coming to various car maker showrooms in 2010 and several states and countries are putting in charging stations.

Both the BlueZERO E-cell and E-cell Plus have impressive mileage statistics.  Either one would be an excellent and pricey buy – these are Mercedes after all.

Related:

Entry was posted on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 at 10:48 pm under Auto, Green Technology.

Read more entries by Susan Wilson.
Stumble It!