Mercedes-Benz launched its fuel cell around the world challenge this weekend as the part of a ceremony to mark the 125th birthday of the invention of the motor car.
German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel was joined by Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes’ parent company, Daimler, as the symbolic starting shots were fired for the F-Cell World Dirve challenge. Setting out from Stuttgart yesterday (January 30) three Mercedes-Benz B-Class vehicles fitted with fuel cell drivetrains began their 125-day challenge to circumnavigation of the world.
Travelling across four continents and through 14 countries, the three B-Class F-CELL vehicles will head around the globe, finishing their "world tour" back in Stuttgart where they started. Through the challenge, Mercedes-Benz is hoping to confirm the technical maturity of fuel cell technology, as well as the suitability for everyday use. At the same time, the company will take the opportunity to highlight the need to establish a filling station infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles.
Celebrating the invention of the motor car, Daimler recalls its founding father, Carl Benz, who on January 29, 1886, filed the patent for his three-wheeled ‘vehicle with gas engine operation’ under number 37435, thus setting the first milestone for a completely new form of mobility.
Some 125 years to the day later – on 29 January 2011 – Daimler took this date as an opportunity not only to look back through history and highlight the milestones of automotive development, but also to give a specific insight into the future of mobility.
The new vehicle technology will cover some 30,000 kilometres, to demonstrate that its safety and reliability over long distances and in the widest variety of road and weather conditions.
"Some 125 years after the invention of the motor car, for us the B-Class F-CELL embodies its reinvention", explains Chairman, Dr. Dieter Zetsche explained. "As an event which is currently unique, this circumnavigation of the world in customer-ready fuel cell vehicles again demonstrates that we have sufficient pioneering spirit for at least another 125 years of innovation."
The B-Class F-CELL combines a high, emission-free range of around 400 km with short refilling times and as such is highly suitable for both everyday use in urban areas as well as longer journeys. At the heart of the B-Class F-CELL is the new-generation electric drive system powered by a fuel cell, which is compact, powerful, safe and fully suited to everyday use. The fuel cell generates the electrical power on board from a chemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen.
