Mercedes will bring the new S-Class Plug-in Hybrid to showrooms during the second half of 2014.
The all-new 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class is still not in showrooms but the German maker is already working up new versions of the flagship sedan that will include not only a stretch model but also what is being billed as the “greenest” S-Class ever, a new plug-in hybrid that is set to make its official debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.
The extended-range model will join an expanded range of new clean, high-mileage S-Class offerings, including diesel, conventional hybrid power and Mercedes’ first diesel-electric model, the S300 BlueTec Hybrid.
While the maker has yet to reveal specific details, it’s expected the new Mercedes S500 Plug-in Hybrid will use a powertrain similar to that in the Vision S500 Plug-in Hybrid concept. That would mean something on the order of 15 to 20 miles using battery power alone but, according to a report by the British Autocar, something in the range of 78 mpg using the European combined driving cycle.
The Vision Concept provides a hint of what's coming in the Mercedes S500 Plug-in.
Converted to a U.S. gallon and the more stringent EPA testing procedures, that still could come in somewhere over 40 mpg combined.
While Mercedes isn’t planning to bring all of the new battery-based models to all its markets there’s a strong likelihood the S500 Plug-in will make it to the U.S.
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The system relies on a lithium-ion battery pack hidden below the trunk floor. The electric driveline will be paired with a V-6 engine. According to Autocar and other reports out of Australia, the plug-in would produce a mere 70 grams per kilometer of CO2, about what might otherwise be expected out of a low-power minicar.
Nonetheless, the plug-in is expected to deliver the solid performance one might otherwise expect of an S-Class sedan, with 0 to 60 times still down in the 6-second range, according to various sources.
The new model, according to David McCarthy, Senior Manager of Corporate Communications at Mercedes-Benz Australia, will go on sale during the third quarter of 2014.
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German automakers were initially slow to embrace battery propulsion, but they’re collectively charging into the market with a range of new offerings such as the Mercedes SLS E-Cell, a pure battery-electric version of the gull-winged SLS supercar, the Audi A3 plug-in, and BMW’s new i3 and i8 models, the first a battery-powered city car and the second a sportier plug-in.