Mercedes-Benz's new hybrid E Class will go on sale in Germany in both saloon and estate version from this autumn, marking a first for the Stuttgart-based manufacturer. The T-badged estate car will be the first diesel-electric shooting brake to debut at home and Mercedes-Benz is hailing both variants of the E300 BlueTech hybrid as the most economical luxury-class vehicles in the world, DPA reported.
Fuel consumption is given as 4.2 litres per 100 km with carbon dioxide emissions at 109 g CO2/km.
The hybrid mates a 204 horsepower, four-cylinder diesel engine to a 20 Kw electric motor which charges lithium-ion batteries. This enables the car to travel for around a kilometre in purely electric mode. The motor helps boost the diesel during acceleration and the E-class hybrid can sprint from 0 to 100 km/h (62 miles per hour) in 7.5 seconds.
Top speed is 242 km/h. The hybrid was shown for the first time alongside an up-rated version for the US market at the Detroit motor show earlier this year.