The Mercedes B-Class
F-CELL is anything but "B-class." It will be the first fuel cell electric vehicle to go into batch
production, and more units are estimated to go into production beginning in 2013-2015. The 200 units will be
distributed only in Europe and the United States.
Fuel cell technology is essential to the future success of the B-Class, because it is one of the key elements
of the green movement in the automotive industry. Fuel cells work by producing electricity by converting the
chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water. This allows cars to be twice as efficient as "traditional" cars
with internal combustion engines, because per 100 kilometres, the fuel cell only consumes an equivalent of
3.3 litres of diesel fuel (NEDC).
Mercedes claims to offer “driving pleasure and day-to-day suitability at Mercedes level.” This car may be
built for the eco-conscious, but it certainly isn’t your average tree-hugging, hippie mobile. The B-Class
boasts leather seats, aluminum applications and a thermotronic system, which allows both passenger and driver
to set their own separate temperatures. It also has light-alloy wheels, a chrome trim, and with a cold-start
capacity up to -25 C – it really is a wonder why they’re not bringing it to Canada just yet.
Although the B-Class has been relatively well received by critics, it is not without its challenges. In order
to successfully break into a large-scale, mainstream market, there is a kink in the fuel cell vehicle world
that needs ironing out: Fueling stations need to be built for the B-Class, as well as other fuel cell
vehicles.
Daimler AG is said to be in partnership with Stuttgart, a car manufacturer, to create an electricity charging
and refueling infrastructure in Germany. They presented their plan to the Federal Ministry of Transport in
September 2009. Along with the obvious issue of how long it is going to take to build that kind of
sophisticated infrastructure on a global scale, there are other challenges. David J.C. MacKay, author of the
book “Sustainable Energy — Without the Hot Air” writes, “Hydrogen is a less convenient energy storage medium
than most liquid fuels, because of its bulk, whether stored as a high pressure gas or as a liquid (which
requires a temperature of -253 C).”
For now, Mercedes is just going to have to clean the world one fuel cell at a time. •
