LexFather

MERCEDES are aiming to end the need for filling your fuel tank with petrol or diesel within just SEVEN YEARS.

The German firm are determined to make their model range run on alternative fuels - to improve costs, become more eco-friendly and because the oil supply will eventually run out.

There are 50million jobs worldwide associated with the car and more than 80 per cent of goods are transported by road.

Mercedes are convinced that these two crucial areas of industry can be saved by making vehicles independent of crude oil - to improve costs, become more eco-friendly and because the oil supply will eventually run out.

The company have already spent £2million on their new long-term Sustainable Mobility plan and are set to invest a further £7billion before 2014.

This includes making current engines even cleaner and more fuel-efficient while increasing the amount of hybrids, emission-free electric cars and clean-fuel gas engines and the further development of battery and hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Mercedes will drip-feed different forms of more eco-friendly vehicles into our showrooms as and when the technology has been developed over the next decade - but the process begins towards the end of this year.

The new A and B-Class models which go on sale in October feature Start/Stop technology - the car’s engine shuts down when it’s stopped at a red light but automatically restarts when you lift your foot from the brake pedal.

Around town it can improve fuel efficiency by up to nine per cent.

Also out later this year are the Blue Efficiency A-Class 160 and C-Class models, which could reduce fuel consumption by a further 12 per cent.

Mercedes have also just announced that the Smart diesel will come to the UK for the first time in February 2009.

The new Smart Cdi will be the cleanest production car in the UK - emitting just 88g per kilometre of CO2.

The company’s next big step will be to launch a Smart electric car which is fuel and emission-free.

There are currently 100 Smart electric cars being given trials in London and they could be on the market as soon as 2010.

At the same time Mercedes hope to have their remarkable Diesotto engine available for their range.

Launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year, it will produce remarkable performance, yet will slash fuel consumption and emissions.

I was the first UK journalist to drive the Diesotto engine and ride in the sensational F700 concept - see below - in Seville last week.

Also on the horizon are zero-emission fuel cell cars - such as the F600 Hygenius which I also drove.

They use electricity and hydrogen for power and are set to go into a prototype B-Class in the coming months, slashing current fuel costs and eliminating emissions completely.

Professor Dr Herbert Kohler, responsible for Mercedes’ advanced engineering, told me he believes that by 2015 motorists will have switched almost completely to alternative fuel cars, certainly in cities, to eliminate the need for petrol and diesel in urban areas.

That’s great news.

Not so far in the future we will be charging our cars at night, not getting charged a fortune.
http://emercedesbenz.com/Jun08/24_00...0_Concept.html
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle1314732.ece

SLegacy99

I want to see a car company that is bold enough and aptly equipped to move quickly and offer every SUV/CUV they sell with a hybrid since they can fit the batteries. But then rushing things always leads to problems later.

DustinV

Hybrids are effective in the urban environment but usually perform very poorly in terms of fuel economy when being driven in rural environments. The reason for this is simple: extra weight of the electric motor and batteries and in the case of Lexus hybrids you can also factor in the "overpowered gasoline engines".

JessePS

I wish them the best of luck.

I can't wait to see Toyota/Lexus do that also

SLegacy99

And yet the midsize Toyota Prius gets 10 Hwy MPGs better than the compact Corolla.

Nextourer

Actually rural might be better since there's less traffic and medium speeds.

Threxx

That's awesome if it's true but for now I'll take that with a grain of salt just like we've learned to do with all of Acura's "we're going to be a tier 1 brand" press releases.

cpone

Subscribed to this thread so that in 7 years I can say: TOLD YOU THIS WASN'T GOING TO HAPPEN.

drink300

If they did this, I would be first in line to buy one. Unfortuantely, this sounds a little far-fetched.

SLegacy99

There's a straight, flat road that goes for 2 miles to get to my house. Its 55 MPH. The RX400h can hold 55 MPH on electric alone according to the computer. Its pretty awesome. I can imagine that midwestern America would be great for hybrids.

Nextourer

That'll be warp-stealth, no? I think the engine would be pumping at 55mph even if you were in EV mode. Still, that's better than having fuel injected into the cylinders!

Yeah but hybrids have been marketed as urban cars....

silvervett

I live in what is considered a rual area and waas getting 30 to 33 MPG around town on the RX400H I just traded in, that is pretty darn good.

bagwell

hummm no rolling blackout comments from Lobux on this????

just in case....

Solar power cuts family's monthly electricity bill from $150 to under $30

Redmond family home uses solar panels for 80 percent of its energy

Sun-powered oven cooks meals; family runs errands with bikes

About 250,000 homes in U.S. use solar power, industry group says

From Jeanne Meserve and Jim Spellman
CNN
ARLINGTON, Virginia (CNN) -- For the past few years, Dan Redmond has been on a mission to change the way his household uses energy.

As concerns about global warming and rising energy costs grow, many families like the Redmonds are looking for ways to change the way they use energy.

Three years ago Redmond began embracing solar energy to power his suburban Washington home.

And he's not alone in turning to the sun for energy. The Solar Energy Industries Association estimates there are about 250,000 homes in the United States with some sort of solar power, although not all of them have taken the concept as far as the Redmonds. Last year, 13,000 homes installed solar power.

"We're just making different decisions about how we live our life," Redmond said, "And what's important to us as well, as being able to show our two boys that when they grow up they're going to need to know to be more flexible in most parts of their life and they're going to need to be adaptable." Watch how Redmond has outfitted his solar home »

Redmond's excitement about solar energy has changed his family's daily routine and also saved money -- he paid $28.61 for electricity last month compared with $150 a month last year.

The biggest change came when Redmond put solar panels on the roof of his 1925 bungalow in the suburbs of Washington, which he shares with his wife, Margaret McGilvray, and the couple's two young sons.

The system, which still allows the family to use energy from the traditional power grid when the sun is not shining, uses what is known as net-metering. No electricity is stored in the house. Energy produced in excess of what is needed is fed back to the power grid, effectively making the Redmonds' electric meter run backward.

Twelve panels on the roof feed power to a device in the basement called an inverter.

The solar power system cost $23,000 after a $2,000 tax credit. Redmond estimates that the system will pay for itself in 10 to 15 years (MUCH LESS IF YOUR ELECTRIC BILL IS OVER $150).

"As we know, our power rates are going up." He said "So it probably will take less because that number is based on what we're paying right now.

"About 80 percent of our power is used with the solar panels." Redmond says.

To get that kind of benefit, though, the family greatly cut the amount of energy they use.

"We've made a real effort to reduce how much electricity we need to use in the first place, which is much less expensive to do than to produce energy that you're wasting inside of your home."

The biggest lifestyle change is as low-tech as the solar panels are high-tech -- the family uses a clothesline to dry its laundry. Take a closer look at the Redmonds' money-saving strategies »

"It's ok just to simply hang your lines ... and not use your dryer," says Redmond, who cut his electric bill by 15 to 20 percent by ditching the dryer. "That to me would be the very first thing anybody should do in terms of conserving electricity for their home."

Redmond cooks using a solar oven, a small appliance that uses four reflectors, to heat food in Redmond's front yard. The device uses only solar power and leaves no carbon footprint.

Richmond says he can heat food to about 350 degrees in his solar oven, but the stove's manufacture says it can heat food up to 400 degrees.

On the days when the sun is not shining, the family uses their traditional oven powered from electricity provided by the power grid.

The family also uses a small array of solar panels to charge iPods and cell phones. Whenever possible, Redmond runs errands on an electric bicycle that pulls a small trailer. Every little bit helps keep their power bill low.

Redmond works from home as a photographer, and McGilvray telecommutes as a consultant for IBM. The couple decided that since they spend a lot of time in their 1,400-square-foot home, and not much time on the road, their best option for saving energy was the solar panels.

"We had several years of back and forth consternation. Should we buy the Prius? Should we get the solar panels?" Redmond said. "What we decided is, opposed to spending that same amount of money on a hybrid, let's offset what we're using for our home and business from our roof. ... This would make much more difference in how we live."

For Redmond, it's not just about the money.

"It was more about what we thought was important for ourselves and the decisions we're making for our family," he said.

Yet he does look forward to many years of lower power bills.

"This system that we have on our roof is going to last 30 years, which will put me into my 70s," he said. "That's a lot of free energy."

Nextourer

That's very good and close to the Canadian city rating.

JessePS

Hopefully by 2025-2050 we will stop using petrol/diesel.