Mercedes Vito E-Cell Electric Van
As it turns out Mercedes believes in electricity as the most appropriate replacement for hoary fuels as well as they are hard during work developing their E-Cell systems which can be used in a wide operation of vehicles from the supersport Mercedes SLS E-Cell to this, a Vito Van. It is the initial prolongation battery-electric van as well as offers zero emissions as well as comprehensive overpower as the categorical features.
Mercedes-Benz Vito E-CELL has a battery-electric drive complement that is corroborated by High-capacity lithium-ion drive batteries, which gives it the range of 130 km in between with full charge. The van’s electric engine has peak output of 70 kW as well as limit torque of 280 Nm, which give it the top speed of 80km/h.
This year they will only have 100 Vito E-CELL vans, though the serve 2000 units have been planned for 2011 that will go on sale in different countries. Mercedes additionally promises to provide a usual tip nick service quality for this cars as well.
Press Release:
Quiet, emission-free pushing in environmentally sensitive areas
Deliveries to inner-city areas as well as walking precincts, operations in areas with severe access restrictions, in-company ride in production shops, smoothness entrance around subterraneous automobile parks – a quiet, emission-free Mercedes-Benz Vito E-CELL with the quite battery-electric drive complement is the undiluted answer to the question of smoothness operations in environmentally supportive areas. Moreover, the Vito E-CELL is not usually means to carry out the transport assignments in areas with tall exhaust wickedness, but additionally where there are sound restrictions protecting e.g. illness resorts or in residential areas with night-time pushing bans.
In response to a flourishing environmental weight in the densely populated areas of Europe as well as other regions of a universe, a relevant authorities are increasingly introducing car access restrictions in a form of environmental zones formed upon emissions or with time constraints. Emission-free vehicles with electric drive are customarily exempted. Accordingly a Vito E-CELL is eminently suitable for environmentally sensitive areas, both in commercial and open service operations, as well as in many areas of a service sector together with e.g. parcel and postal deliveries, upkeep work and for other use providers.
There have been additionally countless inducement schemes for the purchase of emission-free vehicles. These are available in many countries as well as take at large dissimilar forms, ranging from direct purchasing subsidies to significant reductions in fee charges or vehicle taxes as well as grant from entrance restrictions.
The Vito E-CELL is also extremely less costly to work. A comparison between a stream diesel cost and a price of electrical energy shows the cause of four to 7. This equates to that for a same driving stretch, the Vito powered by an inner explosion engine incurs 4 to seven times a costs of a Vito E-CELL recharged overnight with low-priced off-peak power.
In densely populated areas the future belongs to electric drive
Experts are assured that in rarely populated areas with unenlightened infrastructures, where empty and sound wickedness levels have been tall, a future belongs to electrically powered vehicles. Additional incentives embody a clarity of responsibility on a partial of businesses and not slightest a public family effect of “clean” drive systems.
Another motivating cause for a development of vehicles with electric drive is a charge of finite resources such as oil, as well as the domestic will for greater independence where energy reserve have been endangered.
As the colonize in vehicle growth and production, Mercedes-Benz has a stated target of defense as well as moulding a mobility of a future upon the tolerable basis with innovative technologies. The focus is on ecologically justifiable drive technologies such as those collectively termed BlueEFFICIENCY during Mercedes-Benz. The clear design is emission-free pushing, and Mercedes-Benz Vans has come another step closer to this goal with a Vito E-CELL.
All great things come in threes: vans with diesel motor fuel, gas and battery- electric drive
The Vito E-CELL rounds off the wide range of environmentally compatible vans temperament the Mercedes star to form an ecological trio catering for most all fathomable operations from specialised short-range to impassioned long-distance transport. The lineup has invariably further grown as well as now roughly polished inner combustion engine systems, natural gas as well as LPG drive systems, as well as now quite electric drive.
Mercedes-Benz benefits from the wealth of knowledge
The Vito E-CELL is formed on the resources of experience in the field of electric drive systems which Mercedes-Benz has accumulated over a decades. As early as 1972 Mercedes-Benz grown the first electric outpost, a LE 306, that was soon followed by a first large-scale trial with the Mercedes-Benz 307 E. Further initial vehicles followed with a Mercedes-Benz 308 E as well as the electrically powered Sprinter, as well as these are still in client operations underneath genuine conditions today, for e.g. on the North Sea island of Heligoland.
The subsequent step to series production was however always foiled by inadequate battery technology. Apart from insufficient long-term continuance, this singular both the cargo as well as handling range to the border which professional operation in incomparable numbers was not the viable tender.
The way is now being privileged by complicated lithium-ion batteries with the tall appetite density, upheld by intelligent charging strategies and innovative driving strategies which were not probable in a past. The company is pushing the growth of new battery systems forward during full speed, by conducting investigate as well as cooperating with partners. The Vito E-CELL will benefit from this when a impending series production commences.
Vito E-CELL: no restrictions in bucket genius as well as payload
With the operating operation of around 130 km, a Vito E-CELL meets average customer requirements for a daily van mileage of approx. 50-80 km with a considerable reserve margin. At a same time the van’s bucket cell is usable with no restrictions whatever. With the cargo of around 900 kg depending on apparatus specifications, a Vito E-CELL is in every respect the fully-fledged outpost. Thanks to the tip speed of 80 km/h it is additionally befitting for the short inter-urban stretches that often start in densely populated areas and suburbs.
Externally it is usually a taste of the Vito E-CELL that distinguishes it from the informed coming of the conventionally powered Vito, as a physique is completely unmodified. Even the charging hollow has found the place behind the strap usually concealing the fuel filler siren in the lower territory of the B-pillar upon a left side of the vehicle. The ground clearway and point of view of approach/departure have been also practically unvaried compared to a Vito with an internal explosion engine. The Vito E-CELL is therefore similarly suitable for facilities with high ramps and approaches.
Powerful electric motor with tall drive torque
In place of a common 4 as well as six-cylinder engines and peripheral units of a Vito, the engine cover of a Vito E-CELL conceals a electric motor as well as its ancillary systems. The electric motor, a permanent at the same time unit, develops a successive outlay of 60 kW and a rise outlay of 70 kW. Maximum torque is 280 Nm.
As the full torque is innately available right from the start in electric motors, the Vito E-CELL delivers dynamic performance at the informed, tall turn of complicated diesel engines. In perspective of the standard operating form for a Vito E-CELL, and in a interests of maximising a operating range of a batteries, the van’s tip speed is singular to 80 km/h.
Power is transferred to a front wheels via the single-speed transmission. This efficient section was likewise grown specifically for a Vito E-CELL.
Vito E-CELL: a only Vito with front-wheel drive
To save installation space for the batteries, as well as in contrast to a alternative models in the Vito array, a car has front-wheel drive. With a exception of the few cessation components adopted from the Vito 4?4, a front-wheel drive complement was specifically developed for a Vito E-CELL.
In addition to a electric motor, other components such as a power electronics, transformer as well as the mains charging section are accommodated underneath a engine cover. The 12 V onboard network was additionally completely newly grown.
High-capacity lithium-ion drive batteries
The batteries have been housed underneath the load compartment floor, where a propshaft as well as fuel tank have been customarily located in a Vito. The batteries are modern lithium-ion units with a tall opening and load capacity, the high appetite firmness as well as the favoured voltage of 360 volts. The sum capacity of the batteries is 36 kWh, of which 32 kWh are available to power a vehicle. This suit of around 90 percent is an outstandingly high figure compared to other electrically powered vehicles.
The battery container of the Vito E-CELL consists of 16 modules with a sum of 192 cells. Each of these cells is monitored by the battery management complement. To equivocate unnecessary energy losses as well as a risk of damage caused by unauthorised persons when the car is parked, the safety system (“Watchdog”) deactivates the high-voltage network when not in use.
Water-cooled electrical components
The batteries, electric motor, converter and alternative electrical components of a drive complement have been water-cooled. Unlike an internal explosion engine, an electric motor does not stretch the biggest efficiency at around 100 degrees Celsius, but during approx. 30 degrees Celsius. To ensure pleasant conditions for the driver during the colder months of the year notwithstanding these partially low temperatures, a Vito E-CELL is versed with a heater booster. This is continuous to a high-voltage network and a customary heating circuit in the instrument row.
Full battery during a charging hire after 6 hours during most
The batteries are charged during charging stations provided to a commander customers by the two energy providers EnBW as well as Vattenfall. These companies are participating in the customer trials as team-work partners in the Berlin (Vattenfall) as well as Stuttgart (EnBW) regions. The charging stations have been installed upon a business premises of the fleets concerned. The charging socket of a Vito E-CELL is connected to a station regulating the customary seven-pin charging wire.
The batteries of a Vito E-CELL have been charged during 380/400 volt mains. The onboard chargers have an output of 6.1 kW. The charging time depends on the charge standing of the batteries, and takes the maximum of six hours if the batteries are fully liberated.
Using an additional charging wire with the conventional domestic power block, a Vito E-CELL can also be charged from the 230 volt mains if compulsory. This may turn required if a van is not during the charging station supposing when left overnight. In this box the charging time is doubled, however.
Intelligent charging technologies lower CO2 emissions and costs
The design of a Vito E-CELL incorporates intelligent charging record to revoke both CO2 emissions and costs. The required charging intervals have been defined with a client depending on a van’s operating form.
The Vito E-CELL features the Smart Charge Communication Unit (SCCU) as customary, creation cleverly tranquil charging probable. This ensures that inside of a defined period, the van is charged precisely when the energy providers supply “green” electrical energy at off-peak, overnight rates. The outcome is the serve, drastic rebate in CO2 emissions inside of a altogether appetite balance of the Vito E-CELL (“Well to Wheel”), quite apart from the vehicle’s zero-emission performance during actual operation.
Moreover, during the multifunction steering circle as well as in the instrument cluster, the charging units can be away set to assign at times when not only ecologically generated, though additionally low-cost electrical energy is available. This can additionally be finished centrally on the PC by a scheduler. The SCCU additionally allows parallel charging of several vehicles in a fleet, but overloading the mains network.
Apart from this, a ability to assign a batteries at the company’s own charging hire or energy sockets opens up appealing perspectives: no more time-consuming trips to a filling-station, and if tours are deftly planned neither a drivers nor swift government need to be concerned about appetite reserve for a vehicles.
Schedulers can carryout Vito E-CELL assignments according to assign status
Vehicle availability can additionally be distributed depending on a charge status of a batteries. A scheduler is means to call up the assign status and therefore the available operating range of a Vito E-CELL on his computer screen, as well as precisely establish either a particular van is able to lift out an one more choice during reduced notice.
All these smart carryout possibilities protect a environment whilst optimising client benefits individually in widely incompatible businesses as well as operating conditions. At the same time these complex controls revoke loads on a batteries as far as probable, prolonging their operating life.
Recuperation: braking energy converted into electrical energy
In a interests of maximising a handling operation of the Vito E-CELL, its batteries have been also charged by energy recuperation whilst upon the pierce, i.e. by converting braking appetite into electrical power. Recuperation not usually takes place when operating the brakes, but additionally on the overrun as well as when reducing speed. All this is in communication with a new ESP® complement.
Based upon a long-wheelbase Vito
The Vito E-CELL is based upon the long-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz Vito with the standard roof tiles. The long wheelbase of 3200 mm provides a necessary underbody space for a traction batteries. With a permissible sum car weight of 3050 kg, the approx. 900 kg cargo of a Vito E-CELL is surprisingly high.
This vast transport capacity is firstly due to the comparatively compress as well as therefore light lithium-ion battery, which has a tall energy density compared to conventional accumulators. Secondly, it is not slightest due to intelligent formation of a electric drive complement into a bodyshell.
The Vito E-CELL is available with both left as well as right-hand drive.
Extensive as well as most oriented standard equipment
The apparatus turn of a Vito E-CELL has in no approach suffered from a efforts to grasp the top probable cargo. In addition to a heater upholder, all 100 Vito E-CELL vans have an endless operation of standard equipment and the heatable luxury seat for the motorist, a multifunction steering circle, heatable as well as electrically tractable exterior mirrors, a two-seater dais for the co-driver, dual sliding doors, the tailgate and a “CARGO” equipment package.
A reversing camera with a guard in the cab’s COMAND system and a retreat warning device ensure that when manoeuvring at slow speed, the driver is able to recognize obstacles and also fast notice pedestrians who have not heard the still Vito E-CELL approaching.
Active and passive reserve at the highest level
The Vito E-CELL has the same, exemplary level of reserve as all Vito models with an inner combustion engine. In the eventuality of a collision a batteries are stable by a crash element. When the airbag carryout unit is triggered, a high-voltage record is automatically deactivated. The Vito E-CELL has already impressively demonstrated its tall reserve customary in multiform pile-up tests. And should the Vito E-CELL be involved in an accident, a emergency services have special recovery guidelines available to them.
Active reserve is additionally at the concurred, tall turn found in each Vito with an inner explosion engine. Like all other Vito models, a Vito E-CELL features the fully-fledged Electronic Stability Program (ESP) with all a informed functions, plus the driver airbag as well as dual co-driver airbag.
Mercedes-Benz has ensured a tall turn of operating safety with extensive trials. To this end, some-more than a dozen Vito E-CELL vans have undergone extended exam drives both upon enclosed exam tracks and upon the roads. Whether in the icy conditions of Scandinavia or a feverishness of Spain – the Vito E-CELL has already demonstrated the tall bland practicality during a hearing proviso.
The Vito E-CELL is constructed on the same line as a required Vito
In contrast to alternative electrically powered vans, Mercedes-Benz is a initial manufacturer to furnish the Vito E-CELL on the same lines, together with all a alternative Vito models, in the Vitoria plant. This further demonstrates that the Vito E-CELL is by no means an initial car or the prototype, though rather than a outpost on its way to array prolongation.
In perspective of a utterly different drive configuration together with a front-wheel drive module, the battery container underneath a bucket compartment building as well as a repudiation of most components, numerous changes as well as special precision for all a crew concerned were necessary in production.
100 Vito E-CELL vans with fleet operators in two cities
Mercedes-Benz will deliver 100 Vito E-CELL vans to clientele between August and December this year. Half any will be taken into operation in Berlin as well as Stuttgart, and further units will be used in a Basque segment of Spain early subsequent year, i.e. upon a homeground of the Vito E-CELL. The categorical areas of operation have been therefore concentrated upon densely populated areas. These not usually differ in size though additionally in topographical conditions, ensuring dissimilar operating conditions and thus additional findings.
The customers concerned have been primarily swift operators. Both a fleet managers and drivers have been being intensively learned in the carryout as well as operation of the Vito E-CELL, and delicately familiarised with its special facilities. This also extends to separate operating instructions for a Vito E-CELL.
The common high peculiarity of use interjection to well-trained personnel
Both in Berlin as well as Stuttgart, two seminar partners will be obliged for servicing the Vito E-CELL. Their crew are undergoing thorough fanciful and practical training as a multi-stage process. Service specialists will also be upon hand during the start-up proviso in box variable problems occur. The European emergency call center operated by Mercedes-Benz in Maastricht is also means to answer queries.
Mercedes-Benz is ensuring the prevalent, tall quality of service estimate for a Vito E-CELL. The outpost absolves the stereotyped workshop processes, as well as is e.g. diagnosed using the existent evidence systems. This serve demonstrates the practically-oriented configuration of a Vito E-CELL with the perspective to array production.
Innovative business model: monthly user charge rather than than purchase cost
The client trials for a Vito E-CELL have been scheduled for 4 years as well as roughly 80,000 km per car, after which a 100 vans will be returned to Mercedes-Benz. For this reason a clientele have been not purchasing their vehicles, though rather than renting as well as financing them by paying the monthly user assign that additionally includes all the servicing for a Vito E-CELL. Ideally a 100 Vito E-CELL vans will cover a sum of around 8 million kilometres in roughly a single dozen fleets during the customer trials – that will provide an peerless resources of knowledge for the further growth of electric drive systems in light commercial vehicles.
Financial support from a sovereign supervision
The Vito E-CELL project is being supported from the open purse in assorted ways. Within a await duration, Vito E-CELL clientele have been able to use a van during no charge for multiform months. The monetary resources have been being provided by a German sovereign government as partial of its Economic Support Package II, in which the Federal Ministry of a Environment and Nature Conservation is supporting a development as well as industrialisation of a Vito E-CELL. This applies to a production as well as contrast of initial vehicles, as well as the 50 vans for the customer trials in Berlin.
While vast fleet operators are a categorical concern in Berlin, a focus of the client trials to be hold in together in Stuttgart is on both tradesmen and fleets. In this box a Federal Ministry of Transport, Construction as well as Urban Development is supporting client operations in the Stuttgart commander segment for electro-mobility.
In Spain the Basque government is assisting with a building a whole of a special production facilities for a Vito E-CELL.
In parallel with a unsentimental trials, Mercedes-Benz will weigh data such as route profiles, handling ranges and alternative parameters in sequence to tailor electrically powered vehicles even more precisely to customer mandate.
Next step: array production of the Vito E-CELL starting shortly
Mercedes-Benz will have built a tiny array of 100 vans at the Vitoria plant by a late autumn of this year. The subsequent stairs have been already scheduled: the serve 2000 units have been already planned from 2011.
