The Vision GLK concept that was previewed at last year’s Geneva auto show sported a four-cylinder diesel-hybrid engine. (Mercedes-Benz)
Mercedes-Benz has confirmed that a diesel-hybrid version of the upcoming E-Class is in the cards.
The new gas-engine E-Class will arrive this summer, while the new-generation E 350 BlueTec diesel is slated to come to Canada next March.
Joachim Lindau, head of overall vehicle testing at Mercedes-Benz AG, confirmed the hybrid plans at a press preview earlier this month for the 2010 E-Class, which will have the same 3.5-litre V-6 and 5.5-litre V-8 engines as the current model.
The upcoming diesel engine will be a new design that uses urea injection and a more potent exhaust emissions system; the AdBlue exhaust-scrubbing additive will need to be replenished at every oil change. No AdBlue fluid change, no squeaky-clean emissions — if the driver ignores warnings of low AdBlue levels, the car is programmed not to start.
That's true of all Benz diesels with the latest BlueTec clean-diesel system. It was the only way Mercedes-Benz could assure American legislators that BlueTec drivers would continue to replenish the system, keeping emissions clean even as the vehicles age.
The new E350 3.0-litre V-6 BlueTec will offer 210 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque, or about the same power as the current E320 diesel, which is rated at 9.0 L/100 km city and a miserly 6.1 on the highway. Like the rest of the E-Classes coming for 2010, Mercedes-Benz Canada is launching the diesel E with a visually aggressive AMG Sports package as standard equipment.
Details of the further-out diesel-hybrid E are still sketchy. Although Lindau confirmed that an E-Class diesel hybrid is in the works, neither timing nor engine size were discussed.
However, Germany's DPA news service reported that a diesel-electric ML SUV would make 340 hp from its 3.0-litre V-6, while at least one online rumour had the ML diesel-hybrid on sale in North America by the end of this year.
Mercedes-Benz has shown various diesel-electrics at different auto shows over the last two years, including a diesel-hybrid S-Class, which produced 265 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque from a hybridized BlueTec V-6. A smaller four-cylinder diesel-hybrid engine was also previewed in the Vision GLK concept at last year's Geneva auto show; it boasted some eye-popping numbers: 224 hp, 413 lb-ft of torque and an estimated average of 40 mpg — that's 5.9 L/100 km.
source: auto.theglobeandmail
