It’s a comment that appears on green-car articles again and again, “Why doesn’t anyone build a diesel hybrid?” and – for the most part – the question has been ignored … until now. Mercedes-Benz has heard your cries, true-believers, and will begin selling the E300 BlueTEC Hybrid-electric sedan you see here in 2012 … a full year ahead of VW’s TDI hybrid!
I’m excited, obviously, but – considering my opinion of Mercedes’ diesel engines, my time testing the company’s S400 hybrid, and my general Mercedes-V12 fanboyism – I think that’s to be expected. You, dear readers, should also be excited about a stop-start equipped, clean-burning, full-size luxury sedan with sporting pretensions that punishes its tires with over 450 lb-ft of torque and still manages to give back better than 45 miles-per-gallon.
In other words: YEE-HA!
Yee-ha? I’ll admit, that’s a bit simplistic, but this new BlueTEC Hybrid could well be the car that makes diesel the fuel of choice for America’s euro-posers premium sedan buyers, and that accomplishment (followed by the inevitable “trickle-down” of the technology into more mainstream vehicles) would be a big win for everyone.
Source: Gas2.0
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