During the Detroit Auto Show back in January, Mercedes-Benz wowed the public with the unveiling of three electric vehicle concepts coined BlueZERO. The EVs have a modular build allowing sharing of technology and architecture. The BlueZero still works the same way but Mercedes-Benz added E-CELL PLUS, a combustion engine to the package.
Some may look at the addition of the 3 cylinder engine as step back as the cars goes from being an EV to being a hybrid but looking at the feasibility angle, that is the best option.
Without the E-CELL PLUS, the BlueZERO vehicles’ range will not be that impressive. That brings anxiety to the consumers who will worry of what they must do if they run out of battery while on the road. Injecting the range extender technology allows the cars to run 100km on pure electricity then an additional 500 km when using the gas-electric engine combo.
The battery can give drivers a full range of 100 kilometers given that the batteries are fully charged. This usually takes an hour of charging.
Mercedes-Benz is simply addressing the concerns of their potential buyers. The infrastructure for EVs on the road is admittedly not yet there. Re-fuelling of a vehicle is still practically done at a gas station and not all of them have stations where you can plug-in your EVs.
The BlueZERO also boasts of other indicators of what it can do on the road. The top speed is pegged at 150 km/hr and the cars can accelerate from 0 to 100 in 11 seconds. Not bad. Via Green Cars Blog.