Hybrids are at their best in urban driving, where stop-and-go traffic allows them to maximize their electrical components for fuel-free commuting. On the highway, though, a hybrid’s benefits shrink tremendously. Diesels do their best work in such situations, as their tremendous torque allows them to turn lower rpm. In the alternative-fuel debate, the hybrid-versus-diesel argument frequently leads to the conclusion that if only someone would build a diesel hybrid vehicle, the world would be saved. The problem with that solution is that both diesel engines and hybrid systems are heavy and expensive.
But you know what else is heavy and expensive? A Mercedes-Benz. On such a car, the added heft and cost are as close as they’ll get to negligible. Alongside its new E400 hybrid, Mercedes will debut the new E300 BlueTec diesel hybrid at the Detroit auto show in January. The E400, which has a gas-fired V-6 under its hood, will go on sale in the U.S., but the diesel won’t.
Both use the same hybrid system, a system evolved from what’s found in the S400 hybrid already on sale here. That means that an electric motor is sandwiched between the gas engine and the seven-speed automatic transmission. Fed by a lithium-ion battery pack, the motor contributes 27 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque to locomotion. In the E400, the electric motor is accompanied by Mercedes’ direct-injected 3.5-liter V-6, which makes 302 hp and 273 lb-ft. In the E300, the internal combustion engine is a 2.1-liter turbo-diesel four-cylinder with 201 hp and 369 lb-ft.
The combo allows the E300 hybrid—which is available as both a sedan and a wagon—to achieve 56 mpg. Although that’s on the ridiculously inflationary European combined cycle, it’s also 8 mpg—or more than 15 percent—better than this engine alone manages in the European E250. And, as in the S400, Mercedes’ compact hybrid system means there are no intrusions into the interior of the car or the trunk. Unlike the S400, though, the E300—and the E400—will be able to accelerate away from a stop powered by just the electric motor.
Bummed that you can’t get the diesel hybrid Benz in the U.S.? Show your support for at least half the equation and buy either an E350 BlueTec or an E400 hybrid. The E BlueTec has been on sale here since 2007, and the E400 is coming in the second half of 2012.
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