Mercedes-Benz's 125-year celebration
FRANKFURT, Germany – Mercedes-Benz should have handed out eye bleach instead of stickers, fortune cookies and temporary tattoos at their Actros display. It'll be a long time before the sight of two caucasian sumo wrestlers flanking the entrance to their pavilion will be erased from my subconscious. Still, it was hard to resist the giant Actros truck they were guarding. If I ever decide to pack it all in for a career in long-haul trucking, this snub-nosed, luxurious behemoth would be the way to go.
To celebrate their 125-year anniversary, Mercedes-Benz unleashed several debuts at the Frankfurt auto show this year. Garnering the lion's share of attention was the new F 125 concept, the F standing for “Forschungsfahrzeug”, or research vehicle.
Visually it's a standout; gleaming and sensuous with soaring gullwing doors and huge electro-magnetic looking rims. Not a pre-production concept, the F 125 is a study in futuristic design, what Mercedes-Benz suggests the cars of 2025 could be.
The aluminum space-frame F 125 would be powered by hydrogen, exuding only water vapour and oxygen in place of harmful emissions. That's assuming we'll actually have hydrogen fill-up stations by then. The compressed gas would be channelled into fuel cells, which would power the electric drive motors on each wheel.
But this would be supplemented by a plug-in hybrid system that stores energy in 10-kWh lithium sulphur battery cells. Together, they provide the F 125 with a total of 313 horsepower, a range of 1,000 km, a top speed of 220 km/h and a 0-100 sprint of 4.9 seconds.
The sleek blue and cream interior seats four and is a showcase of integrated technology. Semi-automated systems could relieve drivers of some of the more monotonous duties, such as lane-changing, passing and crawling through stop and go rush hour traffic. The Cloud-synced infotainment system, a centre console-located touch pad, includes voice recognition.
Also making its debut was the B-Class E-Cell Plus concept, an environmentally friendly version of the popular B-Class compact. Similar to Chevrolet's Volt, it's powered by a combination plug-in hybrid system and range-extending 3-cylinder gasoline engine providing a total distance of 600 km.
On electric power alone, the B-Class E-Cell is reportedly capable of traveling up to 100 km. It has a top speed of 150 km in either mode. The lithium-ion battery pack can be charged using any domestic power outlet, but also features a rapid charging socket that can be plugged in at a public charging station (once the infrastructure is available) in approximately one hour.
Mercedes-Benz's 125-year celebration
It's loaded with all sorts of new technology features, such as a remote vehicle diagnostic system called "Vehicle Homepage" which allows the owner to use his smartphone or home PC to check the battery pack's charge status, current range, smart charging (which ensures the battery's charged and air conditioning is on at a pre-set journey time), and an electric-car specific route planner.
The new M-Class was unveiled, less angular yet more dynamic and sportier than its predecessor. Inside, the luxurious cockpit is available in black, alpaca grey, almond beige, and tobacco brown/maroon. Engines offered include the 302-horsepower BlueEfficiency in the ML 350, and two diesel options. They'll be mated to the 7G-Tronic Plus transmission.
On hand were Formula One drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg to unveil the new DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupe for the 2012 DTM season. Based on the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, it's built around a new carbon fibre monocoque and features wild, alien fins. Underhood is a 500-hp V8 powerplant, which is mounted to a 6-speed, transverse-mounted sequential gearbox.
Also present for their first public unveiling were the SLS AMG Roadster, the convertible version of the glorious gullwing coupe, and the AMG version of the previously released SLK-Class roadster.
