Mercedes to stop producting petrol cars by 2015

spockety

Hmmm...

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/ecogeek/603/mercedes-to-cut-petroleum-out-of-lineup-by-2015.html

In less than 7 years, Mercedes-Benz plans to ditch petroleum-powered vehicles from its lineup. Focusing on electric, fuel cell, and biofuels, the company is revving up research in alternative fuel sources and efficiency.

The German car company has a few new power-trains in the line-up that European journalists have had the opportunity to test out in the Mercedes facility in Spain. One vehicle includes the F700, powered by a DiesOtto engine that combines HCCI and spark ignition to get nearly the same efficiency as diesel, but minus the expensive after-treatment systems.

The engine can run on biofuels, and we may have a purchasable vehicle by 2010 -- a year that seems to be popular for the debut of a lot of new alternative fuel car models, making ’08 and ’09 simply thumb-twiddling years for consumers. I don’t know, maybe car makers just like the roundness of “2010.” The company’s next big step will be to launch a Smart electric car which is fuel and emission-free.

Anyway, Mercedes is looking into electric vehicles, both battery-powered and fuel-cell powered. Not only are models in development, but we’ve also seen the company making steps towards its zero-petroleum goal right now, from better cabs in London to li-ion battery improvements. The company also has about 100 Smart electric cars undergoing testing in London, with that favorite 2010 year as the projected market release date.

Mercedes is making serious investments, already putting nearly $4 million into the pot of its long-term Sustainable Mobility plan, with another nearly $1.4 billion going in before 2014.

While car models may be able to run on fuels other than gasoline or diesel, we have yet to find a method of both running and producing vehicles entirely free of fossil fuels. I’m waiting for a mainstream car line that creates renewable fuel, clean-running vehicles out of 100% recycled materials in plants run on 100% renewable, clean power … Will I even be alive when that finally happens? I have hope.

Stephen

I can't see them ditching petrol engines in the US by 2015 at all.

Stealdo

You'd be surprised what can be achieved by major corporations in relatively short periods of time if they have the will to do it. This sounds like a real target statement that they may not even have a detailed strategy to achieve, similar to JFK stating that the Americans would have a man on the moon by the end of the 60's. At the time they had very little certainty about how it would be done, but he was creating the will to do it.

Only problem I see with all this is that I'd imagine crude oil is still required for the production of these various fuels (I don't know that for a fact). Meaning that while it maybe go someway to addressing emissions etc, it doesn't really tackle the main problem being the dependence on crude oil. I look forward to the day that an R&D group come up with a genuine alternative and all those currently speculating on the price of oil and creating much larger problems for society such as increased food prices to suffer a little. Unfortunately they'll probably be the ones that get out earliest.

G-Money

I think half of the problem with replacing petrol and diesel with alternative fuels is not the technical aspects, it's more the availability of the fuel.

Very few people are going to buy some sort of hybrid/alternative fuelled vehicle if they aren't going to easily be able to buy the fuel it needs. Not much point having some environmentally friendly car if there's only two places in the country where you can fill up.

chickenhawk

grandmaster wrote: »

Very few people are going to buy some sort of hybrid/alternative fuelled vehicle if they aren't going to easily be able to buy the fuel it needs. Not much point having some environmentally friendly car if there's only two places in the country where you can fill up.

Lotus have an alternative fuelled car. It performs better on the new fuel and is more economical. But there are only a few stations in certain counties in england that do it. Go onto youtube and type in Fifth gear and lotus ecofuel or something like that and it will come up i'm sure.

G-Money

No wonder those cars are low emission. You can rarely ever drive them as there's so few places to buy the fuel

E92

Merc's DiesOtto runs on none other than.... petrol. Merc's DiesOtto engine is coming in 2015. Bit of a co-incidence, eh:rolleyes:?

It has an injection system similar to that of a diesel so it gives diesel torque and economy but all the other benefits of petrol. It is, despite the marketing, very much a petrol engine. If anything DiesOtto will replace diesel, not petrol because it combines the benefits of the 2 fuels, while running on petrol.

E92, DiesOtto uses compression ignition (combined with direct injection) on cruise, i.e. is a very much a diesel engine (common rail) under low load conditions, although one that uses petrol or equivalent biofuel as fuel.

peasant

My prediction (please make a note in your calenders ), ten years from now, traditionally fuelled engines on new cars will be the exception rather than the rule.

Water as fuel is where it's at. Be that in form of hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen as fuel itself, HHO fuel cells, HHO /petrol/diesel hybrids or (if someone can crack it by then) actually (tap) water fuelled cars.

maidhc

Back to the future:
http://historywired.si.edu/object.cfm?ID=223

Imagine what we would be driving if oil had not been so cheap these past 50 years.

DemonOfTheFall

peasant wrote: »

(if someone can crack it by then) actually (tap) water fuelled cars.

You mean if someone can break the laws of thermodynamics and violate everything we know about science?

A tap water fuelled car would have to be plugged in to the wall to use electricity to crack the water into hydrogen and oxygen.

There is *no* energy in water.