The car's battery pack is the perennial sticking point--Mercedes is keen to work on finding the right capacity and size to work for S-Class customers.
The priority, he says, is not to sacrifice the S-Class's famed creature comforts and technology simply to carry a battery pack around.
Mercedes has already confirmed an S-Class plug-in hybrid, which Dr Ernstberger says is ideal for occasional trips into the city. The car's electric range is between 15-18 miles, enough to cover brief spells in cities considering zero-emission centers.
The rest of the time, a relatively small (for a luxury sedan) 3-liter V-6 gasoline engine will provide the power--328 horsepower of it--and refinement that Mercedes buyers expect. Importantly, a compact lithium-ion battery pack won't impact upon the car's packaging.
It could be a while before we see an all-electric S-Class though, as even the plug-in hybrid model won't hit U.S. shores until early 2015.
We may be waiting less for a different aspect of S-Class technology though--autonomous driving.
"I think the S-Class is at the very top of the movement of autonomous driving," Ernstberger told.The new S-Class already features several autonomous functions--and it's only really legislation stopping Mercedes going further.
source:greencarreports
