Preview: Mercedes BlueZERO Electric Cars

Most people in North America know Mercedes-Benz as a premium brand or luxury manufacturer. Worldwide, Mercedes is known as a brand offering much greater depth, producing heavy trucks, coaches, buses, and advanced technology vehicles, plus one of the most aggressive hydrogen fuel cell programs of any automaker. Mercedes’ latest green vehicles, which will be unveiled at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, are branded ‘BlueZERO.’

There are three different variations of the concept, all driven by electric drive. The BlueZERO trio of concepts consists of electric drive cars based on a modular design to allow flexibility. The BlueZERO E-Cell is a pure electric vehicle (EV) with a liquid cooled lithium-ion battery that’s said to deliver a range of nearly 125 miles. In a scheme somewhat like that of General Motors’ E-Flex platform, Mercedes will also show two range extending models.

The BlueZERO E-CELL PLUS employs a turbocharged version of the smart car’s three-cylinder internal combustion engine, not to provide drive power, but rather to recharge the lithium-ion battery pack when battery charge is low. The gasoline range extender essentially triples the BlueZERO’s range to about 370 miles. The car can travel some 60 miles on electric power only before the range extender kicks in to provide additional juice. Most impressive is the BlueZERO F-CELL model, which features a hydrogen fuel cell as the range extending electrical power source when driving beyond the battery pack’s 60 mile range. The BlueZERO F-CELL offers a total range of nearly 250 miles with the combination of fuel cell range extender and battery power.

Mercedes is capitalizing on advanced lithium-ion battery technology developed by Evonik Industries to store electrical energy in the BlueZERO concepts. The state-of-the-art liquid cooled battery pack offers a storage capacity of 35 kW hours and an ability to be quick-charged in a quick 30 minutes to deliver a range of just over 30 miles. The concepts have an onboard electronic control unit that interfaces with intelligent charging stations and supports electronic billing systems.

The vehicles’ electric motor has a peak power output of 100 kW, which translates to 136 horsepower and 236 lbs-ft of torque. That’s enough to accelerate the BlueZERO from 0 60 mph in under 11 seconds.

The front-drive BlueZERO is a five passenger car with an overall length of just over 166 inches. It’s designed with a high degree of utility in mind, readily accepting both people and cargo. Its functionality is enhanced with a sandwich-floor architecture that Mercedes pioneered 10 years ago in the production A-Class. The design increases interior space and allows packaging efficiencies not possible in traditional layouts. For example, Mercedes was able to integrate energy accumulators, generators, and much of the powertrain technology into the sandwich floor, thus producing a low center of gravity to aid handling and enhance crash safety.

Mercedes BlueZERO concepts illustrate the growing global interest in efficient electric drive throughout the auto industry. Innovative vehicles like these take us one step closer to realizing a greener, more sustainable mobility future.