Mercedes-Benz Launches The 2010 B-Class F-CELL Electric

STUTTGART, GERMANY - Mercedes-Benz announced this week that they will start series production of their 2010 B-Class F-CELL fuel cell car that uses compressed hydrogen as an energy source later this year. There will be an initial production of 200 zero emissions B-Class F-CELL cars, and these will be delivered to customers in Europe and the United States. Mercedes-Benz will distribute the 2010 B-Class fuel cell car to regions where there are advanced deployments of hydrogen refuelling infrastructures, so that the F-CELL B-Class cars can be evaluated in a real world test environement.

The new 2010 F-CELL B-Class has the performance of a 2.0 L gasoline (petrol) powered car, but Mercedes-Benz says the chassis dynamics are much better because all heavy drive components are located at the floor level of the car, giving  improved turn-in, turn-out and cornering in comparison to the higher centre of gravity petrol (gasoline) engined car. The 2010 B-Class F-CELL is driven entirely by a 100 kW (136 hp) electric motor, having a maximum output torque of 290 Nm. Mercedes-Benz says the F-CELL B-Class gets an equivalent 3.3 L/100 km in diesel equivalent hydrogen fuel consumption.

The 2010 B-Class F-CELL has an integrated energy storage lithium-ion battery pack, with a maximum output power of 35kW and a capacity of 1.4 kWh. The lithium-ion battery acts to balance load demands on the hydrogen fuel cell engine and this gives the car seamless instant-on power driving characteristics. The fuel cell car can operate in temperatures as low as -25 degrees centigrade.

The first 200 Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL cars will be painted in a special bonamite silver colour, and include 10-spoke alloy wheels (see photo). Standard equipment on the B-Class F-CELL is leather interior, heated seats, automatic climate control, M-B Command Control navigation system, and other luxury appointments.  

Mercedes-Benz says that the B-Class F-CELL has a 385 km (240.6 mile) range from a full tank of hydrogen. The hydrogen is delivered in a 700 bar system to the fuel cell engine, which then mixes atmospheric oxygen with the hydrogen to produce electricity. The B-Class F-CELL is a 100% zero emissions vehicle, producing 0 grams of CO2 per km and just water vapour as its output emissions.