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If the upcoming Smart ForTwo isn’t quite to your liking, yet you do want something about as small with a tri-pointed star on its nose, Mercedes has brought over its B-Class Electric Drive.
Autoblog Green reports the EV compact made its world showroom debut in the United States last week, appearing in 10 coastal states at first before heading inward toward the heartland down the road. Price of admission begins at $41,150, which will net the driver an 87-mile single-charge range and 84 MPGe, about the same as the Nissan Leaf and BMW i3.
19 Comments on “Mercedes Debuts B-Class Electric Drive To US Market...”
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While I expect that price to easily climb to $50,000 and beyond with minor equipment additions, this is a good entry price.
Too bad it looks boring.
84 MPGe actually makes it (one of) the least efficient EV’s offered in the US – it’s relatively heavy, and needs more battery to get acceptable range. Likely because it is a ICE vehicle retrofitted to EV duty.
That said, I applaud the effort.
“Likely because it is a ICE vehicle retrofitted to EV duty.” Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. The Chevy Spark EV is recognized as a substantial improvement over the gas version and at the top of most reviewers’ list of EV’s in the US. It goes 82 miles and claims 118 eMPG. Chevy didn’t dial back the torque, either, so 400 ft-lbs is on tap from the get-go. (The torque-steer is monstrous, but in a Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride sort of way.) In short, gobs of fun for $27,000, not $41,000. Trading a bow-tie for a 3-pointed star never cost so much and nets you a slower car for it.
Exactly. Obviously I’m biased- I’ve got a Spark EV. But GM really got the engineering right. Fantastic efficiencies, very low driveline losses.
http://insideevs.com/gm-general-says-spark-evs-400lb-ft-of-torque-no-misprint/
92% efficient from DC current to wheel torque on the highway. Between that and L.A. traffic (no joke! electric cars are more efficient at lower speeds than higher, plus regenerative braking), although the car is rated at 82 miles/charge, I actually get about 100.
Between that and the solar panels I put up, my gas bill and electricity bill have gone down to $0/month. My break-even point is between 5-6 years (depends on price of gas). If the battery pack lasts for 7 years and the full 100k miles it’s warranted for, then for the last 1-2 years, it’ll be paying me to drive it. Not too shabby at all.
I’m not too keen on the looks of the Spark, but the EV is a very impressive product, indeed. I hope it goes beyond the “compliance car” status.
Much of the MPGe figure comes from the efficiency of the onboard charger. Honda claims 115 MPGe for the Accord plug in. Personally, I’m skeptical on that one. It may be that MB is just being conservative in its estimate. Better to underpromise and overdeliver.
“If the upcoming Smart ForTwo isn’t quite to your liking, yet you do want something about as small…”
The B-class is not “about as small” – it’s five foot longer than the ForTwo! I know you ‘Mericans view anything smaller than an Escalade as a [i]little commie Eurobox[/i], but these two cars are unlikely to be cross shopped against each other.
You’re right. Take the star off and most Americans would see just another little sh1tbox.
Put the star back on and most Americans would see just another failed IQ test.
I remember when I first saw an article about the B-class. I showed it to my wife: “Look honey, Mercedes-Benz built a Honda Fit with a three-pointed star on the hood”.
Much bigger than a fit. Usable interior is actually bigger than what you get in an Avenger etc.
Do you curse at everything that you don’t understand?
I came here to say this. I’ve seen enough images of the B-Class to know it’s MUCH larger than the ForTwo. Even the A-Class is larger.
She probably meant the Smart ForFour.
We had one, it sold already. Never got to so much as glance it before it was gone.
When this fails to sell in appreciable numbers, they’ll ask themselves what if they’d just sold the ICE version instead … but they’ll never know.
Looks like the rumors of car2go black are coming true…B class electric ones.
And interting they aren’t using the tesla chargers….
This car has a bigger interior than my Leaf (on paper), and a lot more power. I wouldn’t quibble about it being a few MPGe lower, since it will still be cheap to operate.
Maybe- just maybe – I’d consider it instead of the Model 3, but I’d prefer not to stay at par with range.
“about the same as the Nissan Leaf and BMW i3.”
But the i3 has the ICE option (range extender) at US$45.2k vs $41.4 for the Benz.
Other than being a compliance car offering, how does this make sense for MBZ?
The A Class is Golf size, I assume B-class is even bigger. Who would put it size-wise in a category with a Smart?