More Electric Choices on The Horizon

The Mercedes B-Class EV will be available in the US in early 2014

Back in 2008 when I first applied to lease my MINI-E, there were very little electric vehicle options. If you wanted to drive an electric car you could build one yourself, you could buy a $109,000 Tesla Roadster or you could do as I did and apply to lease the MINI-E. A lot has changed in the past 5 years. Today you can buy or lease one of about 10 cars that plug in, and the good news is more are on the way.

I was paid a visit yesterday by some nice men from Daimler who stopped by my restaurant for some lunch and just happened to have one of the few Mercedes B-Class EV's made. It's basically a standard B-Class that has been fitted with a powertrain and battery pack that is supplied to Daimler by Tesla. It has a 28kWh battery, a 134 hp motor with 228 lb-ft of torque. Mercedes says it will go 0-60 in "under 10 seconds", it has a top speed of 100 mph and has a city range of 115 miles. I expect the EPA range rating to come in pretty close to what the BMW i3 does (about 90 miles per charge).

The i3 with the rear seats down

It seats 5 and has a lot of cargo room in the back, especially with the rear seats down, although it didn't look like they will lay flat when down like the BMW i3's rear seats do. While this is really a different vehicle from the i3, it is inevitable that comparisons will be made. They are both electric vehicles with similar range from premium German auto manufacturers that will be released about the same time. They will probably be similar in cost, although I believe the Benz will cost a few thousand dollars more. However they couldn't be any more different

Parked out in front of Nauna's

if you look at how their manufacturers produced them. Mercedes took an existing gas car, outsourced the drivetrain and battery system from Tesla and put it together. BMW basically reinvented the car with the i3. It's a purpose designed and built electric vehicle, the first volume production car ever to be made mostly of aluminum, carbon fiber and thermoplasic and has an entirely different manufacturing process from any other car ever made. BMW has incorporated mostly all renewable energy, materials and processes in the entire manufacturing chain. It is indeed a giant leap forward in car manufacturing. All that said, do customers really care about all that? Some do for sure, but I suspect many feel that they are already doing their part by buying an electric vehicle alone, so they really may not care how it was made. They want a car that's fast and fun, has utility and is affordable. So how much the sustainable manufacturing process impacts sales is yet to be seen.

These are just a couple of the new electric offerings coming to market within the next year. I hadn't really given the B-Class much consideration but after seeing it in person and talking with the folks from Daimler it seems like they are really making a go at it. That's good news because the more electric choices the better!