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arrow2013 Mercedes-Benz E400 Hybrid
Facing hybrid mid-sizers from every major competitor, Mercedes-Benz gets on board.
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Mercedes-Benz must like variety. It refuses to adhere to a single way of building fuel-efficient cars. The M- and S-class have both offered buyers a choice of hybrid and diesel powertrains, and now the company is taking that approach with the E-class as well. At the upcoming Detroit auto show, Mercedes will debut the 2013 E400 hybrid, which joins the diesel E350 BlueTec.
The E400’s hybrid system is an evolution of the larger S400’s setup (as opposed to the more complex unit in the last-gen ML450 hybrid). The S-class pairs a 275-hp, 3.5-liter V-6 with a 20-hp electric motor, while the E400 gets a 302-hp, direct-injection, 3.5-liter V-6 and a 27-hp electric motor. In both cars, the motor is sandwiched between the gas engine and a seven-speed automatic transmission. The major difference between the two systems has to do with their respective electric motors and their operating capabilities. The S400’s motor produces 118 lb-ft of torque, while the E’s makes 184. The S400 can’t move without the gas engine firing, but the E400 can go up to 22 mph and cover up to half a mile on the electric motor alone. As in the S400, a stop/start system and regenerative braking are standard in the E400, and both cars house their lithium-ion battery packs in the engine bay. This placement means they avoid the reduction in trunk space that most other hybrids suffer.
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The hybrid tech boosts the E-class’s fuel economy to an estimated 24 mpg in the city and 31 on the highway, increases of 4 and 1 over the gas-only E350. The diesel E350 returns 21 mpg in the city and 32 on the highway. You may be thinking, “Why doesn’t someone make a diesel hybrid to create the ultimate fuel-sipping combo?” Mercedes is introducing just such a car alongside the E400—the E300 BlueTec hybrid. While the E400 will go on sale here in the second half of 2012, the diesel hybrid is for the European market alone.
The E400 hybrid may seem redundant with the E350 BlueTec already in Mercedes’ U.S. lineup. But diesels remain something of a niche product here, and the E-class’s major competitors from BMW, Audi, Infiniti, and Lexus either are available as hybrids or will be in the next year. That’s a lot of variety, but not, we imagine, necessarily the kind Mercedes likes.
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