Replying to Mercedez Benz News Mercedes-Benz Announces Pricing For The E400 Hybrid

The problem with the E400 is the diesel is better. They should put the hybrid system on to the Diesel V6 or even the turbo 4 diesel if they really want to sky rocket the fuel economy. I know diesel-hybrid is a bit harder to do, but I remember reading that Mercedes has pretty much got it figured out.

Why would a diesel hybrid be harder to do?

Apparently the stop/start feature of hybrids leads to some refinement issues on a diesel engine, but a review I read of the E300 Bluetec Hybrid says it is pretty seamless. Cost is a factor also. It must not be easy to do since no manufacturer outside of Mercedes and Puegot/Citroen makes one.

The E400 isn't the car we want though, the better choice is the E300 bluetec hybrid because it has 224 hp and can still get the E-class from 0-60 in 7.5 seconds, but it gets a Prius beating 56 mpg.

The problem with the E400 is the diesel is better. They should put the hybrid system on to the Diesel V6 or even the turbo 4 diesel if they really want to sky rocket the fuel economy. I know diesel-hybrid is a bit harder to do, but I remember reading that Mercedes has pretty much got it figured out.

Why would a diesel hybrid be harder to do?

The problem with the E400 is the diesel is better. They should put the hybrid system on to the Diesel V6 or even the turbo 4 diesel if they really want to sky rocket the fuel economy. I know diesel-hybrid is a bit harder to do, but I remember reading that Mercedes has pretty much got it figured out.

Will be interesting to see how this sells and how the customers respond. I suspect we will see two messages.

1) it is a slow car with ok gas mileage

2) It is a nice car by why is the gas mileage so bad.

Performance folks will complain it is not fast enough and tree huggers will complain it does not have good enough gas mileage.

Diesel FTW

The E-class Hybrid is priced at $55,800 and the E-Class Bluetec diesel with 400 ft-lb at 1500rpm is $52,200 which is only about $1,200 more than the gasser E350.

I think I know which one I'd go with.

William Maley
Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com
August 14, 2012

Mercedes-Benz has announced pricing for the 2013 E400 Hybrid. For $55,800* (excluding $905 destination charge), you get a a 3.0L DI V6 engine good for 302 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. The gas engine is supplemented by an electric motor which is rated at 27 HP and 207 lb-ft of torque.

EPA hasn't revealed official mileage numbers for the E400 Hybrid, but Mercedes-Benz expects it to get 24 City/32 Highway/27 Combined.

Source: Mercedes-Benz

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at william.maley@cheersandgears.com or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

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