mercedes

Not too often do we talk about contests here at Ecologicliving.com but the other day I came across a pretty neat contest that had some great prizes for the environment and was promoting an eco-friendly product at the same time. Win, win, right?

Mercedes plans to release a diesel-hybrid SUV capable of 40 miles per gallon, with cleaner emissions than your standard car. Demo’d at the 2008 Geneva Auto show, the SUV is built on Mercedes’ relatively new BlueTec emissions control technology—a combination of catalytic converters and advanced chemical processing that scrubs out the worst pollutants produced by the diesel engine.

Mercedes-Benz will begin limited serial production within three years of a small car powered by a zero-emissions hydrogen fuel cell, the company said yesterday.

The configuration is said to be quite “mild”, as opposed to a “full” hybrid. What this means is that the engine is always running, unlike “full” hybrids on the market where the engine shuts off completely at full stops. Instead, the electric motor in the new Mercedes, not being able to operate independently, will only work to provide additional power.