Super-frugal S500 Hybrid: 2.8 litres/100

STUTTGART, Germany - Mercedes-Benz has announced its S500 Hybrid will be offered in long-wheelbase form, claiming its V6 biturbo petrol engine uses only 2.8 litres/100km and emits 65g/km of CO2.

The engine produces 245kW and an electric motor 85kW, so the plug-in hybrid generates a total of 325kW and 650Nm of torque. It can travel up to 32km purely on battery power.

TWO HOURS FULLY-CHARGED

Based on the steel and aluminium chassis structure of the conventional S-Class, unlike its predecessors, the 8.7kWh lithium-ion batteries in the S 500 plug-in hybrid can be topped up using external charging devices such as fast chargers. A full charge on a three-phase power point takes around two hours.

The technology in the S 500 plug-in hybrid is integrated to ensure as little energy as possible is wasted – the Comand system looking ahead to where the car’s travelling to predict where energy can be recuperated, on downhill sections, for example. Likewise, the car will look to regenerate as much power as possible in advance of entering urban areas where the electric-only driving mode can be used.

‘SENSES’ EFFICIENT DRIVING

The car can advise the driver on the most efficient driving style – sending a pulse through the accelerator to indicate when "sailing" mode can be engaged (shutting down the internal combustion engine) and the accelerator itself can be released, harvesting energy and boosting the range of the car.

Likewise, the predictive gearshift strategy uses the car’s radarto sense if there’s a car in front and alters the gearshift accordingly based on the likelihood that the driver will wish to overtake – improving efficiency as well as the responsiveness of the car when required.

Comfort features available on the car include front and rear seats that can replicate a hot-stone massage as well as either heating or cooling you, the ability of the left rear seat to recline to 43.5 degrees, sea tbelt-mounted airbags, a perfume diffuser system called Air Balance that also cleans the air entering the cabin, gently heated armrests and Magic Body Control – which uses stereo cameras to read the road ahead and iron out any imperfections through making tiny alterations to the suspension system.