Premiered last September at the Frankfurt international motor show, Mercedes-Benz plans on selling the B-class E-cell extended range plug-in hybrid vehicle in the US. Joachim Schmidt, head of the German automaker sales and marketing division, didn’t say exactly when the extended range vehicle would debut in the U.S. A production version of the Mercedes B-class E-cell plug-in hybrid car will be unveiled at the New York auto show in April.
The Mercedes B-class E-cell is one of the handful of smaller models that will introduce US over the next few years as it attempts to its fleet wide fuel economy. Mercedes-Benz showed up version of the B-class E-cell at Frankfurt last year that used an electric motor and battery and could drive as far as 62 miles on electric power alone. The Mercedes B-class E-cell has a three cylinder 1 L gas engine that acts as an onboard generator and the additional power source at higher speeds. Mercedes said the powertrain supplies 136 hp to the B-class E-cell and gave the car a top speed of 93 miles per hour.
The total range of the Mercedes B-class E-cell is 373miles.
In addition to the B-class E-cell, Mercedes plans on bringing an A-class hatchback and an SUV to the US by next year. Mercedes also makes a hydrogen fuel-cell electric version of the B-class which has been available for lease in Southern California in limited numbers, slated for full production in 2014.
