Mercedes-Benz Begins Production of B-Class Fuel Cell Cars for U.S., Europe
Mercedes' new B-Class fuel cell car at Stuttgart airport hydrogen filling station.
Mercedes-Benz, as promised earlier this year, is launching a small fleet of its new B-Class F-Cell, or fuel cell, cars for real-world testing in the U.S. and Europe.
The cars use an on-board fuel cell stack to convert hydrogen and oxygen to electricity that powers an electric drive system.
Mercedes didn't say how much hydrogen is stored in the cars' 10,000 psi (70 bar) tanks, but did say the new F-Cell will deliver a range of up to 250 miles with a top speed of 105 mph and the fuel consumption equivalent of 3.3 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers on the European drive cycle.
In U.S. terms, that would be around 71 miles per gallon of diesel or about 64 miles per kilogram of hydrogen.
The company said that the first of 200 B-Class F-Cell cars would be shipped to customers early in 2010.
The fuel-cell electric system delivers the equivalent of 136 horsepower and 214 lb-ft of torque and Mercedes says it has performance characteristics equal to and "in some cases far better than" those of a B-Class with a 2.0-liter gas engine.
The car uses a 35 kilowatt lithium-ion battery pack to store and deliver electricity from the fuel cell and from the regenerative braking system.
With a commercial hydrogen dispensing pump, the F-Cell car takes about three minutes to refuel, the company said, adding that "a comprehensive network of hydrogen filling stations still has to be set up before locally zero-emission driving can become a widespread reality."
To which we say, amen.