While Ford are thinking of releasing a fully-electric work van in 2010, Mercedes has got in on the EV action with a proposal for a new EV in a B-class range, namely the BlueZERO.
Mercedes BlueZERO concept car
Blue is not so Green?
While the BlueZero has a concept proposal for a 100% electric ‘E-cell’ vehicle, we wonder if this will actually come about as compromises in the form of internal combustion range extenders are also in the planning for complementary models. However, they have touted a battery range of 200km or so on electric only for a single charge – not bad. Their ‘hybrid’ version would extend the range to some 400km or so, and a fuel cell version is also proposed. All these range figures are arbitrary, as whatever batteries they wind up using will chiefly dictate this. Evonik are in the game for now.
Since Tesla received a Jeremy Clarkson bashing (and his word is god in the naval fluff arena), I won’t hold my breath just yet (and I wonder what happened to the A-Class trials using ‘Zebra NaNiCl batteries’?).
Plush interior - you won't feel it's electric until you hit the pedal.
Looks more like a Mazda - such is the demise of individual style.
Curiouser and Curiouser
This Mercedes, like other models, will have a sandwich sub-floor area which will house many of the batteries and high voltage stuff, so that they (as the makers say) ‘do not compromise on passenger cabin and luggage space’ – hah-hah, ‘noblesse oblige’!
But seriously, the interesting thing is that since many Mercs have such a sandwich area (albeit a lower profile), it would not be beyond possibility to convert an existing Mercedes to full electric drive. Sure, the larger models are heavy, but the sports models, so I am told, also have the sub-floor cavity area with lots of free space around the transmission tunnel – unused – room for a bunch of Thunderskys/polymers etc (provided it can be proven that Thunderskys can be mounted flat (on their sides/edges) without efficiency losses – jury still out on that one, but polymers would be good).
We’ve been talking about sub-floor installation of EV components for manufactured EVs for some time now. Moving the mass down low to improve the center of gravity and handling is a good thing.
We’ll see what happens – and hope to not wait and wait and wait. BTW, if the ‘ZERO’ in ‘BlueZERO’ infers zero emissions, it should really be a name given to the pure EV version only.
I gotta get back…
Meanwhile I must get back on to my Starion progress and remove the drink coasters from the hood; at least the Starion doesn’t look like a Mazda 3 (a lot of the new cars all seem to look alike these days, even Mercs). I have been very sick and in hospital lately, but a sicko like me will not stay down for too long.
