<< We have recently learned, from a source close to Mercedes Benz and its Research Center in Stuttgart, that the Daimler AG is working on a vehicle “which will revolutionize the luxury auto market,” as they put it. The “revolutionary” vehicle will be an all electric mid-size to large luxury vehicle, and will feature a lithium-ion battery that can be recharged two ways. The first option will be with a direct plug-in, and the other option will be a small dynamo like device that will charge the battery while the car is driving. In current tests, the battery was able to get 170 km (approx 105 miles) before it had to be charged again, which means that the dynamo itself can only partially recharge the battery.
It’s still not fully know which vehicle might get this technology, but if we look at some of the most recent developments, we can probably find the one that will most like be released with a electric motor. In a post we wrote in late February, we reported that Mercedes has acquired 25 patents for a lithium-ion technology to be used in the S 400 BlueHYBRID beginning next year. We also reported a couple of time on the GLK and its Hybrid intentions. If we were to throw out a educated guess here, we would probably say that the S-Class and the GLK, maybe even ML, will be the first “luxury’ all electric powered vehicles in the market.
Here is the most important questions for consumers. When will it come out? According to our source, a fully electric powered vehicle from Mercedes will come in the form of a new model/generation vehicle. If our prediction is right, and it is the S-Class, then we can expect the EV sometime in 2011 or possibly even as early as 2010, as that is when a new model is scheduled. >>
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