Mercedes-Benz has just started leasing or/and renting these vehicles (it says “renting short-term or long-term”) to select customers in German cities where hydrogen refueling infrastructure is available. The cities include Berlin, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich & Cologne.
Germany currently has 50 hydrogen fueling sites in those seven cities, and Mercedes-Benz has partnered with chemical and petroleum companies to expand the network to 100 stations by the end of 2019 and eventually to 400 stations.
The F-Cell reportedly has some common components with the upcoming Mercedes-Benz EQC electric SUV, which is expected to have a 200-mile range from its batteries in European drive cycle. The F-Cell’s tanks hold 4.4 kilograms of hydrogen, which give it a range of 267 miles on hydrogen. And as the first fuel-cell vehicle that also has a plug-in battery, the F-Cell gets another 32 miles of range from its plug-in battery (based on a European driving cycle.)
This F-Cell has 4 driving modes: Battery, which runs strictly on the battery for up to 32 miles; F-Cell, maintains the charge level in the battery, using net energy only from the fuel-cell; Hybrid, which depletes both the battery and the hydrogen in the tanks in what Mercedes says is the most efficient way; and Charge, which uses the fuel cell to charge the battery. This GLC is able to deliver 208 horsepower.
