... will it go in flames?

I take it that they won't be using Sony laptop battery technology? After all, who wants their car exploding without warning?

Failing in one year.

Exploding.

Sounds like a bad idea to me -

LiON gets hot and is known to burn so put it in with the engine where it will get nice and toasty!

LiON has a pretty poor life - my leccy bikes LiON is rated to lose something over 30% of its power in a year and will need replacing after 2! Unlike the Prius NiMH batts that have lasted years and 100's thousands of miles.

No mpg improvement! And 50grams CO2 reduction... Couldn't they have acheived almost the same just by using the engine turning off tech at traffic lights etc?

Do the emissions saved over the life of the car make up for the increased polution of producing the batteries?

The Altairnano Nanosafe battery looks much better, would have loved to see that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altairnano

Paris, because she's fuel efficient.

Every little bit helps. I mean, think back just three short years ago - how many people even mentioned Global Warming/Climate Change in daily conversation, let alone think that electric car technology would be a necessary part of the solution ...... Well, I did - quite vocally in fact, but then I've always been ahead of the times. If only I could figure out how to get paid good money for that .....

does that mean in 5 years time i'll be on ebay looking for a cheap replacement?

Li-On battery - so what. The Merc 'leccy motor puts out a stunning [claimed] 20 bhp. Imagine how many toothbrushes that is in a row?!

The several year old Lexus RX400h (the UK's most popular Premium vehicle hybrid) manages to have one 'leccy motor feeding the front wheels (Wikipedia tells me it's rated at 167hp), AND another one feeding the back wheels, (providing another 68hp).

20 bhp seems like tokenism to me. Mercedes can claim big green credentials, "Hi tech battery first!" but their hybrid is milder than one of our recent frost-free, globally warmed winter days. Or am I being too cynical here?

Flame icon, 'cos that's what happens when you try to recharge a dense Li-On battery too quickly.

"Laptop battery tech" is simply a completely wrong description. Without further research I would guess that the cells used will be similar to these: http://saftbatteries.com/Produit_Large_VLM_cell_range_301_62/Default.aspx

These are high performance industrial cells which cannot be compared to the (China made) cells which can be found in laptops, electronical gadgets, or model aviation.

Which is why real aviation goes in a similar direction:

http://lange-aviation.com/htm/english/products/antares_20e/battery_system.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6252276.stm if anyone remembers it...

I can just see the headlines now...

Mercedes-Benz recalls S400 BlueHybrid due to exploding batteries made by Sony.

It's vapourware, it'd be like announcing a car powered by f**k all.

Hybrid = no congestion charge = who gives a rats ass what sort of environmental benefits it has, city wankers, sorry, bankers will love it.

I think the only other non-shit hybrid options come from Lexus??

Bendy-buses. And what do bendy-buses and laptop batteries have in common?

hint: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3563279.stm

Anyone see a trend?

I, for one, welcome our new incandescent teutonic overlords.

<<- for obvious reasons

Worried about Li-Ion batteries because they catch fire on occasion?! Please!

Has everyone suddenly forgotten that petrol is extremely flammable? And we all drive around with several tens of litres of that in our cars every day without batting an eyelid!

Actually, the 'green' Merc is also going to need to have considerable quantities on board to feed it's thirsty engine anyways!

Seriously? Li-Ion batteries? Higher internal impedance and fewer recharge cycles than NiMH (not forgetting Lead-acid)? Mind you, if you have the dosh to run a Merc then you obviously have money to burn on a new battery pack every 12,000 miles.

And why only 20hp? Honda claim 80hp on their formula 1 car, a vehicle where space is at a much greater premium than a road car.

And lastly, why batteries? How about fly-wheels? No harmful chemicals, much lower maintenance, more reliable and infinite recharge cycles.

When I saw "Merc" in the headline, I automatically thought "Mercury," then "Ooo! Are they bringing back the Comet as an electric car?" Imagine my disappointment.

I thought mph was the right way of putting it, unless you really mean 60 meters per hour, in which case personally ... I'm not impressed.

Mine is with the snails in the pockets.

Coming soon: The Sony/Ford Pinto hybrid.

But seriously, I wonder how Li-ion batteries in these would do in a serious collision?

..clearly hasn't heard a C63AMG recently.

Youtube search it. Sounds far better in the flesh.

other than as a congestion charge workaround [see the Lexus 'Hybrids'] this is a load of toss. Merc should toss more money at getting more than [an already impressive, considering] 25+Mpg out of the six pot motor, and working on fuel efficiency out of their V12 engines, because other than 'congestion charge' zones, high-end hybrids are a fucking joke.

I'll get me coat - the ones with the Lotus keys in the pocket that I wish were mine. Mmm, 30+mpg for 0-60 in 4 seconds from a 1.8 four pot....

Steven R

hybrids...pff!

full electric with generator backup, is the way.

hybrids are a waste of human activity.