The Middle East is emerging as one of the hotbeds for green cars with demand soaring – and now Mercedes is taking one of its greenest vehicles to the region.
The S400 was unveiled at the Abu Dhabi International Motor Show and is expected to go on sale next August. It has been deemed the first luxury hybrid in the region – although that claim is controversial given that Lexus has been selling the RX400h in Israel since 2007.
Nevertheless, the Mercedes S400 will be the first lithium-ion battery powered car on the market. According to a Mercedes engineer the vehicle will run at 299 horsepower and have 385Nm of torque when operating in the combined petrol and battery mode.
So far the vehicle has been well received with reviews in Abu Dhabi stating that the vehicle performs excellently and with no noticeable variations from the non-hybrid S series vehicles. The lithium-ion battery is able to power the electric engine alone when the driver wishes with a range of up to 65 kilometres.
The vehicle also represents a significant reduction in emissions. The carbon dioxide (CO2) output of the vehicle is 186g/km when running the petrol engine – some 10 or 20 per cent below its leading competitors although this is much worse than several non-hybrid vehicles.
The question for vehicle buyers in the region is whether to opt for this vehicle or wait to purchase a full electric vehicle such as those that will soon be available through Project Better Place, or the REVA that is already available in Dubai.
