2017 Mercedes-Benz S550e to Feature Wireless Charging System

MANILA: It has been quite some time since we heard anything from the German giant Mercedes-Benz. The last we remember was its attendance at the MIAS 2016 when it brought A-Class hatch to the grounds. Well, that was April and after keeping itself in the cold zone for say more than 2 months, Merc is back with a bang. This time, it is a wireless charging system which will be featured in the 2017 Mercedes-Benz S-Class S550e plug-in hybrid. Working towards green technology, Mercedes-Benz introduced this vehicle back in the year 2014 for the model year 2015 and the feedback is tremendous in the markets it is available so far. With the announcement of this wireless charging, Merc has also announced that it will be investing $7.8 billion in green technologies and electric vehicles in the next 2 years. Also, there would be an entire lineup of Electric Vehicles and Hybrids joining the fleet in the coming years.

With this declaration of bringing more hybrids and EVs, the company has also made it clear that it doesn't intend to add hybrid and electric motors in the existing fleet and is working on developing a new lineup dedicated to green technology only. This will be a big project and 2020 would be the year by which Merc can add some more eco-friendly drives to its fleet. According to Prof Dr. Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development - “We will invest 14.5 billion Euros in research and development in the next two years alone. From this amount, more than half of it will again be spent on ‘green’ technologies. Just for our passenger cars, we are talking about 5.4 billion euros”

The absolutely stunning S550 PHEV is the first ever Plug-in Hybrid vehicle by the German automaker and carries a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 paired with an 80 kW electric motor. With these engine configurations, the luxurious sedan promises to deliver the performance of a V8 engine with the fuel efficiency that of a compact car. The newly introduced system works very much on the wireless charging which is commonly available in the electric toothbrushes, but on a larger scale. There are two induction coils from which one is placed under the engine bay of the vehicle while the other one is installed in the floor within 6-inch of each other for power to flow. Both the inductions can be aligned using the automatic parking system or in-car display. Once this is correctly aligned, the car will start charging automatically at up to 3.6 kW. Along with this 'pricey' system, the car will be available with the traditional charging pads to save some bucks for those customers who don't want to spend this much amount.

The company has not revealed the price of the new model yet, but you might hear it by October 2016 when it is expected for an official launch. Other features, if there are any modifications than the currently available Merc S550e, will also be revealed by then only. The model is expected to reach the floors by the beginning of the year 2017. As of now, Mercedes-Benz S-Class S550e is not available in the Philippines automotive market but let's hope that with the increasing interest of the Filipino customers in hybrids and EVs, the manufacturer launches it in this market also.

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