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Mercedes B-Class Fuel Cell

Three-pointed star takes hydrogen route to zero emissions

Mercedes B-Class

By Owen Ready

December 2009

There have been plenty of concept cars that promise to combine the zero emissions of an electric car with the convenience and range of a petrol vehicle, but until now few of them have
been ready for the road.

The Mercedes B-Class F-Cell plans to change all of that. It goes on trial early next year, with 200 examples being leased to customers. Externally, the F-Cell is identical to a standard B-Class, even down to the exhaust pipe. There’s little evidence that anything is different when
you get inside, either. But turn the ignition key, and things soon change. Rather than the familiar mechanical hum of an engine, the only evidence of life comes from a gauge which flicks on to indicate that the system is ready to go.

Slip the automatic gear selector into drive, and the F-Cell pulls away in silence. Mercedes claims that the 100kW motor delivers the equivalent of 136bhp, which gives the car similar pace to a 2.0-litre petrol model. In reality, the instant torque from a standstill makes the F-Cell feel even quicker off the line. As speed rises, the silence is broken by an unobtrusive turbine-like whirr from the system.

A downside to the new drivetrain is that it increases the car’s kerbweight by 300kg, so firmer suspension has been fitted to cope. A low centre of gravity ensures that it feels stable in corners, though.

Overall, the way the F-Cell drives is reassuringly conventional. But the biggest bonuses of the hydrogen fuel cell are its range and refuelling time. While most electric cars run flat after around 100 miles and require an overnight charge, the F-Cell has a range of about 250 miles, while filling the tank with four kilograms of hydrogen gas takes just over three minutes.
If the fuel is produced from renewable sources, the B-Class F-Cell is a true zero-emissions car, and one of the first to be viable over longer distances.

For an alternative review of the latest Mercedes B-Class visit our sister site carbuyer.co.uk

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7 Comments

Hydrogen fuel cell cars in 2015

Owen,

Mercedes deserves a lot of credit for being one of the pioneers with hydrogen fuel cell technology. The lease program with 200 vehicles will set the stage for Mercedes hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to be sold at dealerships in 2015.

I'm glad you mentioned the driving range and fueling time advantages of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. They are also far superior to battery-only cars in terms of cold weather performance and trunk/passenger space.

There are indeed good reasons why car companies have spent billions on this technology.

While Toyota does not promote their hydrogen fuel cell technology a lot, they are in my view the leader in this area. The company is planning on bringing "affordable" hydrogen fuel cell cars to market in 2015.

Check out the following article.

"7 reasons to love Toyota hydrogen fuel cell vehicles"

http://www.h2carblog.com/?p=16

Greg Blencoe
Chief Executive Officer
Hydrogen Discoveries, Inc.
"Hydrogen Car Revolution" blog

By gregblencoe on 17 December, 2009, 1:35am

Hydrogen power: What is needed?

To make hydrogen powered cars a reality, the following are essential:(1) a range of performance car that are hydrogen powered, (2) associated styling (e.g., Honda's CRX return) (3) the cost effectiveness of hydrogen production and (4) fueling infrastructure to replace petrol stations. Until all of these are achieved, hydrogen will be just a pipe dream.

By kperez on 17 December, 2009, 1:08pm

The only true green fuel known to man

This is the only true zero emission fuel, and it has taken the Germans a long time to get round to it. probably due to the power of the oil companies.
The technology is not new as the Germans ran some of their last built submarines on hydrogen power in the last war (WW2) 60yrs ago.
This technology should be the death nell of electric battery driven cars which are a gimmick and a sop to the greens while the car builders are happy to make proffits on them in the short term, electric cars are not as green as they are painted and are false economy.
Bring on the hydrogen !!!
But to be realistic of course the governments will never happen as there is lots of taxable oil left in the ground.

By Bobbybev on 19 December, 2009, 10:59am

The same week that BMW drops the Hydrogen 7

Interesting that the F-Cell is launched at the same time as BMW drops the Hydrogen 7 (after more than 20 years of saying they would put them on sale). Why? Because the economics doesn't work.

The author should ask Mercedes exactly how much these cars cost to build. Just like the Honda FCX Clarity, the costs are in Bugatti Veyron territory and this time funded by the German taxpayer.

@Gregblencoe: You were quick off the mark this time. Take your disinformation elsewhere. You are perfectly well aware that it has been demonstrated that Li-ion car batteries can be charged in 5 minutes.

As you also know, a 5 minute rapid charger costs far less than building a hydrogen station and can be installed anywhere there is a power supply (e.g. pretty much the entire civilised world).

@Boobybev: If you believe that this is a "true zero emission fuel" you are sadly mistaken. In fact, the oil companies would love nothing more than a switch to hydrogen - most of it is made from natural gas. That which is made by electrolysing water takes 3x the electricity of just charging batteries in the first place.

So when we have a fully renewable power grid, only then can we afford to build three times as many more power stations, wind farms or whatever, just to have the "luxury" of hydrogen cars.


Greg Blencoe likes to promote this mythical Toyota hydrogen car in 2015 wherever he can. The trouble is that is over 5 years away - just like hydrogen cars have been since the 70s. Sure "you" can lease one of these prototypes, but trying buying one.

By dpeilow on 22 December, 2009, 10:58am

Li-ion batteries: Charging time.... 5 minutes!?

To "dpeilow": I am confused here. You say it takes 5 minutes to charge a Li-ion car battery. This statement is in conflict with the article in this issue of AutoExpress for the BMW Series 1 electric car containing same which states,"Charging takes place via either a standard home socket or an industrial high-current outlet, the latter tops up the batteries in just three hours, giving a real-world range of 100-miles." In short, 3 hrs>>>>5 minutes. Can you resolve?

Read more: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/246487/electric_bmw_1series_revealed.html?CMP=NLC-Newsletters&uid=6ed813ae70f983f95e4c257ad0854757#ixzz0aQSArwTz

By kperez on 22 December, 2009, 2:02pm

5 minute charging

Let me explain:

The electric BMW 1 Series - and many other electric cars like the Tesla and Mini E which are around now - can be charged on a home 3 pin plug which gives about 3 kilowatts, or a higher power charger of about 15 to 20 kilowatts (which is the "industrial" charger referred to above, but typically an owner would get one installed at home). That's fine and means that you can fill the cars up in your garage overnight, or while you do the shopping, etc, if they install them in carparks.

However, some Li-ion batteries on the market (e.g. AltairNano's, amongst others) can be charged in literally a few minutes - if you have the necessary big charger available. Fortunately, there is a company called Aerovironment who are already making such chargers. They sell them to airports and warehouses for rapid charging forklift trucks and those electric luggage tugs, where they have to be operating 24/7 with minimum downtime. There's a lot of very well know companies - including Ford and Toyota - using them for warehouse work.

Now these chargers are in a bit of a different league to your current BMW or Tesla ones, giving out anywhere between 100 and 500 kilowatts each and being about the size of a petrol pump. It's a lot more power, but still easily attainable pretty much anywhere on a commercial electricity supply. It's about the same demand as a couple of light industrial units or one of those small substations you find in a residential street. In other words, not hard for a power company to install at a service station - probably most motorway services already have that level available for other uses.

This is why it is cheaper to set up a rapid charge station - you pay Southern Electric, EDF or whoever around £50k for a 500kW connection as opposed to the seven figure sum it takes to build a small hydrogen station. Connecting up a new electric "filling station" is no more difficult for them as connecting up a shop or small warehouse. At the end of the day, it's still just a big plug - as opposed to making and/or safely storing compressed hydrogen at very high pressures needed for a 3 minute refill. If you work out the cost of the supply, electricity, equipment, premises, staff, etc over say 5 years, then you can see that it is possible to charge the battery for a lot less than you'd pay today for a tank of unleaded, even with just a trickle of cars using the facility to start with.

Now the interesting thing is this: AltairNano and Aerovironment have already joined forces and demonstrated rapid charging of an electric car battery on one of their 250kW chargers. As an aside, the AltairNano battery is the one in the Lightning GT, the pretty decent looking British electric GT car launched at last year's Motorshow.


So, in summary, while most of your charging could be done at home overnight on a domestic supply - which would be enough for most people's daily driving - a few of these Aerovironment rapid chargers dotted around the motorway network would enable people to do the same long distance drives they are used to now. The point is that the battery technology to do this now exists and it is (and always will be) a lot cheaper than the hydrogen fantasy that some people would like us to wait for. Distribution of electricity was sorted a hundred years ago.

By dpeilow on 23 December, 2009, 1:58am

...credit for being one of the pioneers...

Er, have I imagined it, or have Honda had fuel cell cars on the roads (at least in California & Japan) for several years now?

The first-gen FCX resembled a Logo on a platform sole, while the FCX Clarity launched in 2008 (that's the year before last, Greg & Daimler) is a proper, good-looking family car already being driven daily by LA families and celebs.

Mecedes-Benz have been responsible for much innovation in the past century, and the original 'sandwich floor' A-Class was designed with fuel cells in mind, but to portray them as a ground-breaking pioneer in getting a fuel cell car on the road is to blatantly ignore Honda's achievement as the real pioneer.

That said, it's going to take a real joint effort to get hydrogen infrastructure up and working, especially in Europe - who wants to be a pioneer?

By upgwe on 4 January, 2010, 4:04pm

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FIRST OPINION

    The F-Cell is a fascinating insight into the cars Mercedes says we could
    all be driving in the near future. And if that’s the case, there’s plenty to look forward to. As well as being smartly engineered, this special B-Class possesses all the advantages of
    conventional petrol and electric cars in one viable and enjoyable package.

 

AT A GLANCE

    Price: Lease only
    Engine: 100kw fuel cell
    Power: 136bhp
    Torque: 290Nm
    0-62mph: 12 seconds (approx)
    Top speed: 105 mph
    Economy: 85.6 mpg
    CO2: Zero g/km
    Equipment: Satellite navigation, air-conditioning, electronic stability control
    Available: 2012
     
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