Mercedes confirms BLUETEC diesels will be in Europe by year's end

[1931Chevy]

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/10/06/m...e-by-years-en/

E-Class Bluetecs have been available for about a year, where they account for 20-percent of sales. Now Mercedes' Bluetec-engined cars will be available for purchase in Europe by the end of this year. E-Classes with Bluetec will go on sale in December in all but the UK. Right-hand drive versions are expected at some point in the future, but it is unknown when.

"Bluetec" describes Mercedes diesel engines that utilize it's AdBlue reductant and DeNOX particulate filter. The engines get better gas mileage and produce fewer emissions. Though E-Class Bluetec's will join the European market soon, and the GL-, M-, and R-Class Bluetec's will also join the US market soon, similarly-equipped C-Class, won't appear in any markets until 2009. The C250 is claimed to get 57.7 mpg, while a C300 Bluetec hybrid gets a claimed 61.4 mpg.

The hybrid wars have been going on in the US for some time now, and when asked why launch the Bluetec in America first, a Mercedes UK spokesman said "The focus has been on the big prize which is converting America." If those mileage claims are proved in real-world use, then Mercedes conversion efforts should get a huge push when the C arrives.

[FStephenMasek]

Originally Posted by 1931Chevy

The C250 is claimed to get 57.7 mpg, while a C300 Bluetec hybrid gets a claimed 61.4 mpg.

Am I correct when I think this must be the jointly developed two-mode hybrid system joined to the diesel in the upcoming C300 hybrid diesel? At 61.4 MPG, the cost of having both the diesel engine and the two-mode hybrid system is very easy to justify.

[HoosierRon]

Originally Posted by FStephenMasek

Am I correct when I think this must be the jointly developed two-mode hybrid system joined to the diesel in the upcoming C300 hybrid diesel? At 61.4 MPG, the cost of having both the diesel engine and the two-mode hybrid system is very easy to justify.

Given that this came from a "Mercedes UK spokesman", I suspect that this is 61.4 miles per Imperial gallon. An Imperial gallon = 1.2 U.S. gallons. So that would be 51.2 mpg in the U.S.

If you drive 15,000 per year and buy $3.00/gallon diesel, you would spend $879 per year. A 2008 CTS gets a combined 22 mpg. You would spend $2,045 per year for gasoline. In 6 years, you would save $6,998 in fuel.

[big swede]

Originally Posted by HoosierRon

Given that this came from a "Mercedes UK spokesman", I suspect that this is 61.4 miles per Imperial gallon. An Imperial gallon = 1.2 U.S. gallons. So that would be 51.2 mpg in the U.S.

If you drive 15,000 per year and buy $3.00/gallon diesel, you would spend $879 per year. A 2008 CTS gets a combined 22 mpg. You would spend $2,045 per year for gasoline. In 6 years, you would save $6,998 in fuel.

That's assuming gas and diesel are the same price which they rarely are and the fact that the real world mileage will not be 30mpg better for the diesel. Then figure in the added initial costs and you might not save any money. The bright side is that you will save fuel which is always a good thing. I would seriously consider a CTS diesel even though I might not be saving much money because the thought of not contributing to another quagmire ranks pretty high.

The latest emissions requirement have also added approximately another $1500 to the already more expensive diesel engines which doesn‘t help with sales to people who would be only buying the diesel to save money over-all. I guess we’ll start seeing them in the more expensive cars and then slowly trickling their way into cheaper and cheaper cars as the technology gets cheaper.

[1931Chevy]

^But you can get biodiesels that are cheaper than regular diesel and for a car the size off the C-300(After the divorce they name the cars backward for Chrysler 300C , MB C300) this is great