Official Mercedes B-class EV thread

[TonyWilliams]

One problem is that ABB units are 20kW, meh.

I pulled 120 amps from one a few eeks ago.

 

[Valdemar]

One problem is that ABB units are 20kW, meh.

I pulled 120 amps from one a few eeks ago.

I remember reading PlugShare comments about 20kW max on ABB, but I've just looked it up and ABB does offer a 50kW unit. So at least some sites will get it, hopefully.

 

[NeilBlanchard]

I think that 10kW charging at home is a good thing right now, for most people who would own EV's. Level 3 charging certainly would be nice, but it is not as much an immediate benefit, for typical EV owners.

 

[Valdemar]

Define a typical EV owner please. I can count cases when I would have benefited from a more powerful OBC using my fingers, and that is during last 3 years and with a 3.3kW charger. Yes, 3 vs. 7kW is a big deal, but 10 is more of a "nice to have" feature. I do use QC quite often though. Does it make me an atypical EV owner?

 

[NeilBlanchard]

My family now has five EV's. We all charge almost all the time at home. I know a few other people who drive EV's and the same is true for them, too. Public Level 2 chargers are great, for when you have the time to get something significant in the battery.

For a daily driver, EV's make a whole lot of sense, and that typically means charging at home, and/or charging at your work.

Level 3 is for the occasional longer trips. I know someone who drove his Leaf from New Hampshire to the People's Climate March in New York City. Which is great. But so is having 10kW rather than "just" a 7.2kW, or a 6.6kW, or gawd forbid - a 3.3kW charger.

Faster chargers are all good!

 

[Valdemar]

I charge most of the time at home as well. But I do it at night, for that I could care less if it is 3.3kW or 10kW. My QC usage is mostly due to the crappy Nissan battery that lost 25% capacity after 3 years and I sometimes need to plug in for 5-10 minutes on the way home from work to comfortably complete my 60-70 mile daily commute. A 6.6/7.2kW charger would be a plus for me since it would help me to save money when charging away from home as many spots tend to charge by time and not by the actual energy used, and I would be able to also charge faster on the go. On the other hand a 10kW charger would provide close to zero benefit for public charging, and for my usage I can only see it being somewhat useful in situations on weekends when I come home with plans to leave soon, which happens once in a blue moon. I can see a 10kW OBC can be useful for someone with multiple EV's at home, but it is not very common, or at least not yet.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I charge most of the time at home as well. But I do it at night, for that I could care less if it is 3.3kW or 10kW. My QC usage is mostly due to the crappy Nissan battery that lost 25% capacity after 3 years and I sometimes need to plug in for 5-10 minutes on the way home from work to comfortably complete my 60-70 mile daily commute..

You don't care about charge speed because your small-ish size battery car (with dimished capacity).

For the bigger battery cars (I'm not sure a Mercedes with 28-31.5kWh useable counts), 10kW is a "minimum"!

It is painful to watch a 208 volt * 30 amp (or less for Blink) charge station trickle electrons into my battery.

 

[Valdemar]

For the bigger battery cars (I'm not sure a Mercedes with 28-31.5kWh useable counts), 10kW is a "minimum"!

Yes and no, depends how far you need to drive and how often. Overnight charging at home at 7.2kW is probably good for 150+ mile daily commute regardless of the size of the battery, it is more than enough for one's typical needs.

 

[TonyWilliams]

 

[TonyWilliams]

Hydrogen tank location:

 

[TonyWilliams]

Here's a link to that album.

http://s565.photobucket.com/user/TonyWilliams/library/Mercedes%20Benz%20B-Class%20ED" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The battery box is 36"W x 42"L x 7"H

 

[redLEAF]

Not bad for limited areas ...


http://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/


Mercedes-Benz B-Class ED: Mercedes broke into 3-digits for the first time with the B-Class electric as 193 were sold.

Previously in October, we noted the refreshed 2015 version of the B-Class ED can’t arrive fast enough, as just 98 all-electric Mercs were sold in October.

We don’t expect to see any depth of sales for the electric Mercedes until early 2015 at best as Daimler isn’t shipping any inventory of consequence, as unfortunately the automaker decided to electrify a model halfway through its shelf life (more than 350,000 petrol cars have already been sold worldwide).

"Energiefluss" (energy flow) indeed ...

Next gen in Europe ...

http://insideevs.com/facelifted-mercedes-benz-b-class-electric-drive-gets-revealed/

 

[edatoakrun]

...Mercedes-Benz has announced a lease deal on the B-Class Electric Drive: $299 per month with approximately $4,000 down...

http://insideevs.com/mercedes-benz-b-class-electric-drive-lease-deal-299-per-month/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like that makes the B the cheapest MB you can lease?

http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/special_offers/current#class=CLA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And that's before the local/Sate incentives.

 

[mwalsh]

...Mercedes-Benz has announced a lease deal on the B-Class Electric Drive: $299 per month with approximately $4,000 down...

http://insideevs.com/mercedes-benz-b-class-electric-drive-lease-deal-299-per-month/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like that makes the B the cheapest MB you can lease?

http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/special_offers/current#class=CLA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And that's before the local/Sate incentives.

Wow! Just at the most local dealer to me there are 22 2014s in stock. They gotta be dealing at this point in the model year. I would be pushing hard for that reduced down payment, as the article's author advises.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I would be pushing hard for that reduced down payment, as the article's author advises.

I never put "money down" on cars.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I would be pushing hard for that reduced down payment, as the article's author advises.

I never put "money down" on cars.

There is that risk of totaling the car and losing the downpayment, but on the other hand the best deals seem to be had if you do put money down, and also do a 24 month lease. You can always extend it a third year if desired. That's what I plan to so with my $149 a month lease.

 

[redLEAF]

This study at least looked at more of the overall impact between an ICE and EV but as this one was specific to the B-Class decided to put it here …

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/automob...-greener-than-gasoline-models.html/?a=viewall

 

[mwalsh]

Wow! Just at the most local dealer to me there are 22 2014s in stock.

While 22 2104 B class' might be an impressive inventory (if not depressing for the dealer), it's not the most astounding EV inventory I've heard of this week. A local BMW dealer has 45+ 2014 i3s to get rid of! :shock:

FYI, got this mailer from MBZ this week too:

 

[mwalsh]

Last one:

 

[TonyWilliams]

I would be pushing hard for that reduced down payment, as the article's author advises.

I never put "money down" on cars.

There is that risk of totaling the car and losing the downpayment, but on the other hand the best deals seem to be had if you do put money down, and also do a 24 month lease. You can always extend it a third year if desired. That's what I plan to so with my $149 a month lease.

I doubt you're getting a "better deal", if the overall cost is considered.

The lease money factor is nearly free, so they can't lower that much. The only way to give you a better deal is to raise the residual and/or discount the capitalization. The former is not negotiable, and the latter can be negotiated on any lease.

Sorry, it's just "feel good" to have a lower monthly payment with your cash down payment on the table, and FULLY at risk.