Mercedes Launches Fuel Cell Hybrid For Customer Tests.
“The interplay between battery and fuel cell, a long range and short refueling times make the GLC FCELL a vehicle which boasts high everyday practicality,”
Daimler’s Mercedes took a step closer to bringing a fuel-cell hybrid to the market when it announced the handover of the GLC F-CELL vehicles to selected customers in Germany to test on the road.
The GLC F-Cell features both fuel cells and a battery drive which can be charged externally using plug-in technology.
The first customers include Deutsche Bahn, the German railways. Later this year Air Liquide, Shell, Linde AG and also the cities of Stuttgart and Hamburg will join the test.
Other business as well as private customers in Germany will also be able to access the GLC F-CELL from the spring of 2019 using Mercedes-Benz Rent.
Mercedes said the GLC F-CELL is a unique plug-in hybrid because it can run on electricity and pure hydrogen. The vehicle emits no CO2.
“The interplay between battery and fuel cell, a long range and short refueling times make the GLC FCELL a vehicle which boasts high everyday practicality,” Mercedes said in a statement.
The hydrogen supply can be refuelled in three minutes, as quickly as when refuelling a combustion-engined car. The battery can deliver about 30 miles of range on its own. The overall power of 208 hp provides ample power.
Mercedes said there are four operating modes:
HYBRID: the vehicle draws power from both energy sources. Power peaks are handled by the battery, while the fuel cell runs in the optimum efficiency range.
F-CELL: the state of charge of the high-voltage battery is kept constant by the energy from the fuel cell. Only hydrogen is consumed. This mode is ideal for steady cruising over long distances.
BATTERY: the GLC F-CELL runs all-electrically and is powered by the high-voltage battery. The fuel cell system is not in operation. This is the ideal mode for short distances.
CHARGE: charging the high-voltage battery has priority, for example in order to recharge the battery for the maximum overall range prior to refuelling with hydrogen or to create power reserves.
In all operating modes, the system features energy recovery during braking or coasting.
Mercedes said the launch is limited to areas where hydrogen is available, and this includes Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich and Cologne.
Mercedes didn’t reveal the price of the fuel cell hybrid, when it might go on general sale to the public, or in what numbers.
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