Good news for electric car buyers. Especially those with lots of money. The next generation Mercedes electric/plugin car buyers will not need to wrestle with cables and plugs. The 2017 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 500 e electric hybrid will be sold with a plug/cable-free induction charging system. You just need to drive over a plate and leave the car battery to top itself up.
The 2017 500 e is an update on the existing Mercedes 500 plug-in hybrid. The 500 e will continue to have a turbocharged petrol engine and an electric motor, and will offer an electric-only range of about 30plus kilometers.
Owners will be able to position the car over a special coil in a protected base plate in their garage, a message in the car will alert the driver when the car is in a transmittable location. The presence of a second coil in the car will then create an electromagnetic field that will act as a carrier of electrical energy at a power output of 3.6kWh.
Smartphones use similar technology for wireless charging. Mercedes claims a figure of 90% efficiency for the system, which is only slightly lower than the figure for plugging in, so charging times will only be marginally longer.
The technical data at a glance:
| Model | S 500 PLUG-IN HYBRID |
| Internal combustion engine: | |
| Number of cylinders/arrangement | 6/V |
| Mixture formation | High-pressure injection, 2 turbochargers |
| Displacement (cc) | 2996 |
| Rated output (kW/hp at rpm) | 245/333 at 5250-6000 |
| Rated torque (Nm at rpm) | 480 at 1600-4000 |
| Electric motor: | |
| Output (kW) | 85 |
| Torque (Nm) | 340 |
| System output (kW/hp) | 325/442 |
| System torque (Nm) | 650 |
| Consumption combined from (l/100 km) | 2.8 |
| CO2 emissions combined from (g/km) | 65 |
| Efficiency class | A+ |
| Electric range (km) | 33 |
| Charge time 20%-100% (400 V/16 A – 230 V/8 A) (h) | 2 – 4.1 |
| Acceleration 0-100 km/h (s) | 5.2 |
| Top speed (km/h) | 250 |
| Top speed electric (km/h) | 140 |
