Electric cars are coming: Mercedes-Benz will take its first step towards the production of an electric car TNR.v, CZX.v, DAI, SQM, FMC, ROC, WLC.v,

We can question for a while what kind of car BYD will be, but with Mercedes brand on top of Electric Car question will be how much consumer will be ready to pay for "feel good" top auto brand experience. Race is hitting on and mainstream media reporting horror stories about Chinese domination of Rare Earth Elements markets: REE and Lithium necessary for building Electric Dreams.

"Mercedes-Benz will take its first step towards the production of an electric car when it unveils the BlueZero E-cell Plus concept at this month’s Frankfurt motor show.
Riding on a modified version of the existing A-class platform, the third in a series of BlueZero concept cars features a range-extender petrol/electric powertrain like the Vauxhall Ampera’s, and it will go into limited production next year.

See the Mercedes BlueZero E-cell Plus picture gallery here

Using the A-class’s sandwich floor to house an 18kWh lithium ion battery pack, as in the first BlueZero E-cell concept shown in Detroit in January, the Plus adds a 50kW (67bhp) petrol engine.
Taken from the Smart, the three-cylinder unit is also rear-mounted in the E-cell Plus. It is mated to a generator to provide energy for an electric motor, the sole drive for the front wheels.
Producing 70kW (94bhp) and 236lb ft, the electric motor is said to push the E-cell Plus to 62mph in under 11sec and on to a top speed of 93mph.
The 4200mm-long five-door hatch, whose styling provides clues to the appearance of the next B-class (due in 2012), is claimed to have a range on a single charge of 62 miles, which extends to 373 miles on a single tank of fuel when the range extender starts operating. The batteries take less than 30 minutes to recharge.
The Blue Zero will keep Mercedes’ patented flat-floor sandwich body architecture in production, but the next A-class and B-class models will make a dramatic switch to a more conventional and cheaper-to-make platform that eschews a flat floor for conventional footwells.
Greg Kable"