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Mercedes-Benz and Smart electric vehicles coming in 2010

 
7 2,849 views Jun 20, 2008
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Mercedes-Benz and Smart electric vehicles coming in 2010

Mercedes-Benz and Smart electric vehicles coming in 2010

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The age of electric vehicles is nearly upon us, with everyone from Nissan to Peugeot to General Motors at various stages of development. Daimler has now announced that it too will join the ranks of electric vehicle builders by 2010, with both a Smart-branded city car and a Mercedes-branded luxury vehicle on offer.

Testing for the cars is set to begin soon, with the electric Smart ForTWo scheduled for a 2009 test-run in the U.S. Mercedes' new S400 hybrid is due out next year as well, and could be a stepping-stone to the EV in 2010. Mercedes has also been testing a handful of fuel-cell vehicles, including a B-Class prototype, ahead of a planned 2010 launch. Fuel-cell vehicles are technically electric vehicles that store their power in hydrogen or other fuel form instead of batteries, so that may be the direction Mercedes is heading with its first EV. The prototype could also be nothing more than a testing platform for the engine and control systems while a battery pack is in development.

The version of the electric Smart set to begin testing next year is expected to feature a second-generation electric drive system with lighter and more efficient lithium-ion batteries. Consuming just 12kw-hours per 100km, the average cost of running the car is around two and a half cents per mile and it takes just 5.7 seconds to accelerate from rest to a reasonable driving pace of 60km/h.

One of the primary concerns Daimler has with its EV sales program is how it will handle the battery packs, reports Automotive News Europe. Like GM with its Volt plug-in hybrid, Daimler is considering a lease scheme for its batteries, since the technology will be both expensive and a wear item. To keep the cars cost-competitive with combustion-powered models at introduction, a lease scheme may be necessary.



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Comments (7)

  1. By Gus Posted: 6/20/2008 12:31pm PDT

    I just really wish they had come up with a quick-swap standard battery pack system first. If you told me I could pull into a battery station, park over a trap door where a robot would pull my spent battery pack out, and shove a new one (or two, or three if it's an SUV) in, and I could drive off in less time than it takes to fuel my current car for cheap, I'd be one of the first early adopters.
     
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  2. By chris Posted: 6/21/2008 1:31am PDT

    gus gus gus... you're still not getting it... for daily driving.. you plug the sucker in at night.. for long haul trips.. you pull over at a service center at the side of the interstate.. you plug it in... and it's charged before you take a piss and eat a cheese burger. all it takes is a little rethinking of things... but it would be just like a cell phone.. some people hate them but most people swear by them.. and yes.. some times the battery dies on you.. and you have to remember to charge it... but you also have to go one or two weeks between filling your gas tank too... you don't run out of gas cause you always check your gas gauge when you start up the car..

    I'm just glad to see that merc and bwm too are getting into this. merc especially. I wanna see them do this S400... and they'd be really smart to make it simple like GM's technique.. make a single platform that can be a gas electric hybrid... all electric... hydrogen fuel cell... OR cold fusion reactor. Basically.. they need to do the S400 in hyrbid form and then the next year just rip the engine out and put more batteries into it.. in place of the engine. BRILLIANT!
     
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  3. By Gus Posted: 6/21/2008 11:07am PDT

    chris,chris,chris... :)
    For me, I need something more convenient. I take long road trips, and I want something just as fast as refueling a gasoline vehicle.
    What's wrong with my battery exchange argument? I could just see these refilling stations built with an underrground charging room, with a bunch of battery packs lined up in a cooled room, and a robot who zips around, and takes empty one out of the bottoms of cars and SUV's and puts fresh ones in. Pick a standard size, something that would work for the small cars, and then ramp up from there as needed. Something like a Aygo needs one. A Focus two, a Mustang 3 or 4, an S class 5 and an Expedition 6. Like giant AA batteries...
    This would solve several problems:
    1. Even though you only need to have a cheeseburger, that would be impossible, since the number of cars piled up at a recharging station would be enormous.
    2. Not everyone, in fact most people, I would guess, don't have the ability to charge overnight.
    3. It would eliminate the argument that electric is less convenient in any way than gasilone.
    I'd say number 3 is the key, though, don't you?
     
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  4. By Gus Posted: 6/21/2008 11:15am PDT

    Gasilone? Man, I can't spell this early in the morning.
    Anyway, I want to be able to drive on a road trip, decide to take a side road somewhere, knowing that there'll be a battery station (how cool does that sound, compared to GAS station) somewhere down the road in case I run my electric Mustang GT convertible (which has enough torque to pull a train, I'm getting all excitied now) a little harder than I thought I would.
    Now, if I do run out of juice, a AAA truck would come by and charge me up for a few minutes, which my onboard GPS computer calculates can get me to the next battery station...

    No, it has to be seamless so nobody can say it's not convenient enough or too restrictive...
     
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  5. By chris Posted: 6/23/2008 8:23am PDT

    ugh... the logistics of it make me sick. :D

    I think you'll have a hell of a time convincing the 15 or so major car companies out there to agree on a standard battery (voltage, dimensions, cooling load, etc)... I mean, sony and panasonic couldn't agree on the programming of a couple header files on what remains a VERY similar technology, so for several years, the market was split over HD and Bluray. thats it. the "format" war wasn't an issue of compatibility in the physical world, just an issue with programming.

    It would be like standardizing Shell's V-Power brand gasoline. I mean, any gasoline will run in any car, where as electricity is a little less forgiving, but it's essentially the same thing. Personally I think it's already too late cause you've got several competing car brands already signed up with competing electronics firms. See... the IEEE or the SAE should have stepped in several years ago and proposed a standard for future use. Not uncommon at all. Some one dropped the ball some where.

    There's a logistics problem with the swapping idea, which ends up being cost, and battery appraisal. Something tells me a battery station like what you describe would be a little more costly than a gas station. But the big problem would be the fact that you could essentially drive up to a battery station and swap out your 5 year old battery that is nearly shot for (probably) a newer battery. The batteries would have to have a tamper proof computer that logged kWh (energy), mileage, age, and maybe some sort of factor that measures how hard the batteries are pushed (so that some sucker with an aygo doesnt get stuck with one of those 3 or 4 batteries you just cooked in your 1000ftlb mustang).

    Basically what you're saying is that gas stations today should be set up to replace your entire drive train (including gas tank) instead of just refilling. the battery tech right now can be recharged in 15 minutes. by the time this stuff really becomes main stream... I suspect 15 minutes would be laughable. Besides, you've gotta park to get your burger right? You're thinking of a recharge station like a gas station. It's more like a parking lot. clearly not all stalls need a charging station, and yes, some times you'll show up and have to wait. but thats the same thing today at a gas station.
     
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  6. By admin Posted: 6/23/2008 8:34am PDT

    Simple - the US or EU govts can mandate the size and/or specifications of a range of battery packs - small packs for small cars and larger packs for SUVs. Due to the global nature of car production I bet the manufacturers will just use the same sizes around the world.
     
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  7. By Gus Posted: 6/23/2008 2:25pm PDT

    That's what I'm thinking, too. They all have to use the same gasoline, why not the same battery? And yes, they would eventually wear out, but then they would be sent for recycling or refurbishing of some kind.

    I really don't think people will be willing to wait 15 minutes, but I could be wrong. I get upset when I use a "slow" pump these days that takes me more than 5 minutes. I get all excited at "fast" pumps where you can just feel the power!

    I'll stand by my theory, of course your points are valid, Chris, but for me, that is wht I would want. Quick, flexible, widely available. In short, I want to give up nothing in the way of convenience and time, and I want my car quiet, long lasting and fast.

    Thank you, that is all, I have spoken and thus it is so. :)
     
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