Mercedes-Benz to release first series-produced fuel cell car

After abundant altercation and abounding releases about the best recent iterations of battery-powered amalgam vehicles, you’d be forgiven for cerebration that ammunition corpuscle technology had been larboard behind. Not so. Mercedes-Benz is ablution what it says is the world’s aboriginal series-produced ammunition corpuscle car: the fresh B-Class F-CELL. This electric car has aught emissions, has a ambit of 400km, takes three account to refuel with hydrogen and consumes the agnate of 3.3 liters of agent per 100km in the NEDC (New European Active Cycle). Mercedes-Benz has a history with ammunition corpuscle vehicles, absolution the BlueZERO in December 2008, the F-CELL Roadster in April this year, and the F 600 HYGENIUS in 2005 (all abstraction vehicles).

As in best hybrids with agitation engines, the fuel-cell car additionally employs a lithium-ion array (with an achievement of 35kW and a accommodation of 1.4kWh) to addition ability and balance braking energy. Lithium-ion is now the called array technology because it offers several advantages over accepted batteries, including bunched dimensions, aerial performance, accomplished recharge ability and a continued account life.

Mercedes-Benz has a history with ammunition corpuscle vehicles, absolution the BlueZERO in December 2008, the F-CELL Roadster in April this year, and the F 600 HYGENIUS in 2005 (all abstraction vehicles). Assembly of the fresh agent will arise after this year with a sample quantity. At the alpha of abutting year the aboriginal of about 200 cartage will be delivered to barter in Europe and the USA.

At the abstruse affection of the F-CELL is the fresh bearing of compact, high-performance ammunition corpuscle systems, in which aerial hydrogen reacts with atmospheric oxygen at 700 bar to accomplish a accepted for the electric motor.

Mercedes-Benz says the ammunition corpuscle arrangement of the B-Class F-CELL has a actual acceptable cold-start adequacy alike at temperatures as low as -25ºC (-13ºF). The drive arrangement has been absolutely revamped from the F-CELL A-Class presented in 2004, with Mercedes-Benz engineers accomplishing ample improvements in output, torque, operating range, reliability, starting characteristics and comfort.

“2009 is the year in which we are establishing added milestones area acceptable advancement is concerned. The B-Class F-CELL is demography on a beat role as the world’s aboriginal ammunition cell-powered auto to be produced beneath alternation assembly conditions,” says Dr Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, amenable for Group Research and Development for Mercedes-Benz Cars.

Best of both worlds

Mercedes-Benz says barter will be afflicted by abundant added than the B-Class F-CELL’s performance. The aggregation says the fresh ammunition corpuscle agent offers aggregate that bodies apprehend from a Mercedes-Benz: aerial levels of abundance and safety, added no abridgement in autogenous amplitude and cossack capacity.

The B-Class F-CELL employs the different sandwich attic architectonics that is alike with the A- and B-Class. The advantage of this architecture is that the drive apparatus are amid in the sandwich floor, area they are adequate while the vehicle’s autogenous charcoal absolutely accessible and provides a cossack accommodation of 416 liters.

The vehicle’s appearance accommodate an clear bonamite argent acrylic accomplishment and absolute light-alloy auto in a ten-spoke design. Inside, covering upholstery, bench heating, automated altitude ascendancy and the COMAND-system (navigation).

Mercedes engineers accept activated and optimized the drive-specific components’ assurance in at atomic 30 added blast tests and Daimler and Mercedes-Benz accept invested in added than 100 analysis cartage with a accumulated absolute of over 4.5 actor kilometers (2.8 actor miles) of balloon testing – which they say is the best all-encompassing acquaintance with ammunition corpuscle cartage of any architect worldwide.

However, as with battery-powered electric vehicles, abundant of the success of amalgam cartage depends on the availability of refilling/recharging stations in the cities and beyond.

The aggregation says a absolute arrangement of hydrogen bushing stations still has to be set up afore bounded zero-emission active can become a boundless reality. To this end, Daimler is alive with government authorities, activity utilities and oil companies in collective projects in places such as Hamburg, Stuttgart and California.

Mercedes-Benz angle the development of electric cars with array and ammunition corpuscle drives for bounded zero-emission active as a agency of addition cartage with high-tech centralized agitation engines. Advanced agent and petrol engines will abide important for automotive applications for a continued time to appear – abnormally for bales carriage in trucks which biking over continued distances. However, the aggregation believes electric cartage will more be acclimated for burghal transport.