At the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show Mercedes-Benz is presenting a trio of Concept BlueZero models which do not use gasoline at all. The cars are absolutely different from any other vehicles in the world.
The manufacturer offers three variants of BlueZero model: all of them have same front-wheel-drive, rear-engine platform and similar body style; but they have different drive systems built around the compact electric motor.
E-Cell is a basic model which does not have a gas engine and operates on electric power only. E-Cell Plus adds a small extended-range gas motor. The third model is F-Cell with hydrogen fuel cell.
The small turbocharged 1.0-liter gas motor in E-Cell Plus is not going to move the car; it is aimed to generate additional electricity which goes to the auto’s lithium-electric batteries. This is a really important investment, because BlueZero runs up to 62 miles on batteries, but thanks to the gas engine the running range extends to 375 miles.
It takes six hours to recharge the battery pack completely from a standard household outlet. A quick-charging station can do it for less than an hour.
F-Cell is an incredible idea and it seems to work perfectly. Mercedes-Benz is going to launch the production version of the model in the end of this year. Around 200 cars will be made and sold for customers in the U.S. and Europe.
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