There is no need to worry though if you are hoping for more green cars in the market. There are several European car producers that are on the race to come up with the technology as early as 2011. French carmaker Citroen promised to use a diesel-hybrid engine with their new baby the DS5 but this will have to wait until 2011.

Mercedes-Benz was able to step on the pedal and may hit their goal. Mercedes Benz will be able to deliver a hybrid diesel-electric vehicle and also launch a version of the technology through the E-Class before the end of the year. Deliveries of the hybrid units will start by the first months of 2011.

The E-Class hybrid will be labeled E300 Hybrid and will be depending on a 2.2L 4-cylinder turbo diesel engine paired to a lithium ion electric motor. This engine is also used by the E250 Bluetec running on diesel.

The E300 hybrid will only be on a mild hybrid configuration. This means that the car cannot really run on a full electric mode but the electric motor is just used to boost the power of the combustion engine and restarting the vehicle from a stop. The fuel consumption though is still very good and will be more than 50mpg.

The components of the Mercedes-Benz hybrid will be similar in configuration with the S400 Hybrid. The S400 is doing well in the local German market with makes up 15% of the sales figures of the S-Class. The modular platform being followed by the carmaker allows the sharing of the components of their different units. Diesel hybrid configuration is also being planned for the GL, ML, and GLK SUV.

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