Which Drive Technology Is Best Suited To Reduce Fuel-consumption?

As the inventor of the automobile, Mercedes-Benz also accepts responsibility for its future. The Stuttgart premium car maker is underscoring this conviction with its “Road to emission-free Mobility”, which is intentionally structured to pursue a number of avenues. The three core aspects of development work are the optimisation of vehicles with state-of-the-art internal combustion engines, further efficiency improvements with tailor-made hybridisation and local emission-free driving with fuel cell and battery-powered vehicles. This strategy has been implemented consistently since its introduction at IAA 2007 - under the heading “Road to the Future”. Based on the concrete results of their research and experience gathered from highly successful major projects testing alternative vehicle and drive concepts, Mercedes engineers have established the pre-requisites for local emission-free driving tomorrow and the day after. The automobile of today occupies an extremely challenging position, whereby the demands made on its technology are increasingly stringent, multi-faceted and, at times, conflicting.

Customers expect safe, comfortable and powerful vehicles that are also fuel-efficient and environmentally compatible. On top of that, dynamic growth in the global demand for mobility is faced with declining oil reserves, increasing energy prices and an ever stricter, yet internationally inconsistent, regulatory framework. Examples of this include the environmental zones already established in many cities and legislated quotas for emission-free vehicles. It is against this background that the automobile must be made fit for the future, because no other form of transport offers so much individual freedom as the car. At the same time, passenger and commercial vehicles are among the world’s most powerful engines for growth and wealth creation. In European industrialised countries, 80 percent of all goods are transported by commercial vehicle and, worldwide, more than 50 million jobs are associated with the automobile. In order to be able to continue fulfilling this economically crucial role in the future, passenger and commercial vehicles must become cleaner and more efficient.

Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars comments, “None of our competitors are as well-positioned as we are across the board to fulfil customer requirements for individual and sustainable mobility. At IAA 2007, we showed that we possess the right solutions. Since then, we have been systematically bringing these technologies to market - from BLUETEC and petrol direct injection through to the S 400 HYBRID. And, in parallel, we are also pushing forward with the development of electric mobility. “Mercedes-Benz passenger cars are already extremely fuel-efficient and clean, as demonstrated by our BlueEFFICIENCY models, of which we will have 58 on the market until the end of this year. The success of this concept is clearly demonstrated by the new E-Class, which combines state-of-the-art engines and the world’s best cd value in this vehicle class with further targeted vehicle optimisation measures, including lightweight design and intelligent energy management.

All-in-all, we achieve up to 23 percent greater efficiency compared with the preceding model.” says Dr. Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Group Research and Development for Mercedes-Benz Cars. How do vehicle makers want to tackle the issue of “CO2”? Which drive technology is best suited to reduce fuel-consumption? And how can all of this be reconciled with the desire for safety, comfort and driving fun? Mercedes-Benz already provided many convincing answers to these questions with its “green” presentation at IAA 2007, sending a clear signal on the subject of sustainable mobility that has received a great deal of attention worldwide. However, the development of the technical foundation for highly efficient and environmentally compatible vehicles extends much farther back. Since then, Mercedes-Benz has been consistently pursuing the route to emission-free mobility. All relevant technologies - from CDI and BLUETEC, through petrol direct injection (CGI) and hybridisation to battery and fuel cell drive - have been further developed and, in some cases, have already been in series production for years.