Mercedes B250e | Fully Charged
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
- It's just possible that this is close to an actual car review. Many thanks to the very generous Andy Seal who lent me the car for the day.
It truly is a very impressive machine with one rather major drawback.
More info:
goo.gl/mSioyT
Patreon:
/ bobbyllew
By the way, does this car have a fast charger? (Kidding)
I bought my Mercedes B250e in June, and have put over 9000km on it since. Given the car's range maxes out at around 160km, not having fast charging wasn't deal breaker for me - especially since fast charging is nearly non-existent where I live anyway, except for one Tesla Supercharger that's only compatible with Tesla cars.
Because Mercedes essentially sole-sourced Tesla to build and supply the powertrain, battery, and on-board 10kW charger for the car (again, all Tesla components) any sort of Chademo or SAE combo DCFC charger would have been incompatible. With that said, I can charge my 28kWh battery in about 3 hours at home using a 50amp, 240v EVSE. I've never had a problem with range since only an hour on my charger puts nearly 10kWh back into the battery - or around 53 km depending how often you choose to murder electrons with "sport" mode. There are several 9.6kW public chargers I can use, like the one at Ikea that allows me to grab a quick inexpensive lunch while the car charges.
Yes, this is still one great EV and there are certainly deals to be had on this car especially on the used market. It's also one of the larger EV offerings on the market with lots of space in the trunk. The trunk floor has an adjustable height so that when you fold the seats forward, the cargo floor is relatively flat with the back of the seats. The car also fits four adults comfortably, and since the battery is under the floor of the car, it doesn't reduce cargo space at all.
After test driving a lot of EV's before buying one, I still believe the B250e is one of the best values on the road. It's solid & luxurious, as a Mercedes should be. Highly recommended.
oilerlord Hi. Did it prove to be good on the long term? Currently on a 2009 C180 Blueefficiency estate but we moved closer to my work ( 7 miles now). We are a family of 3 and this model makes more sense now:D
That makes sense - the socket looks like a Tesla one - so it looks like Daimler haven't been able to reach an agreement about Tesla's supercharging network. Hence the secret, yet finished car. Perhaps they are considering a cooperation with VW on their charging system.
*Well said, but at the moment (2019) to me it looks like the 'best way to go' is a **_Plug in Hybrid_** (not self charging rubbish) that will be capable of up to 30 miles on all electric mode, and for longer trips on ICE. A high proportion of my trips are less than 30 miles as I gather are many others, but for longer journeys it's nice to know you have NO Range Anxiety, if say for instance you require to get from home to Cornwall.*
It has a fast charger. Just no rapid charger.
Hi there do you still have it?
Which charger do you use it? What speed and what kind of degradation did you have?
Thanks for the information I'm looking for a city car and this is perfect.
A superlative car, sir. With just two minor flaws. One, it doesn't have a rapid charger. And two, it doesn't have a rapid charger. Now I realise that technically speaking that's only one flaw but I thought that it was such a big one that it was worth mentioning twice.
Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper I'd say the range is pretty poor as well. 80-90 miles is only the same as what the likes of the leaf have been doing for a while. The new i3, leaf, Zoe with their bigger batteries all do more now ( I think). Just seems a bit behind the curve.
Totally agree, it does nothing for me. I'd rather wait for a Model 3.
The car was launched in 2014... at which point it was a front runner (I've done 130 miles in mine)
salemyr oh, didn't know that. thought it had just come out hence he was reviewing it! are they ashamed of this car or something?
Dunno... they've had commercials, but I suppose marketing differ from market to market. You see loads of that car where I live in Norway, but that shouldn't come as a supprise...
Mercedes didn't install DCQC (Rapid Charger) because that would make this 100% Electric variant more economical and sensible to buy than the petrol and diesel variants. God forbid, if the general public found out about a 100% Electric Mercedes with DCQC (Rapid Charging) that would allow it to go anywhere on the continent. Mercedes is still a Fossil Fuel car maker and they want to keep it that way for as long as possible, until they are forced to go 100% Electric by governments and by public demand.
A friend of mine got Mercedes to build an AC fast charger into the car. Then again, he ordered a whole fleet.So Mercedes CAN do it. They just don't want to for the average customer.
What's the point of making electric cars in 2016 with a 120 mile range?
How often do most people drive further than that? I reckon 90% of my driving is below 120 miles.
+Craig Young you're right, I was refering to Tesla model 3 and Chevy Bolt. Both probably cheaper than this and with a 200+ milea range. This is a pointless vehicle unless you're buying it solely for the badge.
Because it's a car deviced in 2014, at which point you could only get better range in a Tesla
salemyr good point. they shouldnt have bothered releasing it then with the new knowledge
cinilaknedalm Sorry, bad wording. It was released in the US in 2014, Europe early 2015 :)
It’s a commuter car. Horses for courses
Plenty of rage for commuting or the school run. Which is 95% what most people do
AHi Robert,
I did offer you the option to test drive my B250e. If you had I would of informed you that it for one it can be charged at a higher rate than you stated! In fact in can take a 11kw charge off 3 phase, so form 0-100% takes roughly 2.5hours. It also comes with the range extender button which opens up the hidden part of the battery about 4kwh which gives about an extra 8-12 miles.
For some reason Mercedes decide to limit single phase charging too 16a so if you charge your car on a 7kw charger it splits the charge to 3.6kwh but on 3phase your ok? I'm am unsure why they did this. People will of course give there own reasons.
brett johnson f
11:00 "It sounds like a mommy whale that has lost her baby whale in the sea"
Couldn't have described it better, hahaha!
Thanks for this review! Living in LA and selling Real Estate here, this car is perfect for me! I bought a 2017 that had just been returned to the dealership after a 3 year lease, and got it for $17,000! Super price, and the slow charge issue is not a problem for me because I rarely go over 60 miles in a day; I just come home at the end of the day, and plug it in. Next morning, drive away in electric bliss! If I want to do a road trip, I just rent something fun and sexy. Can't say enough about this car, I love it! It does make some strange groaning noises unlike a gas powered vehicle. Have had it checked out at the dealership twice, and they say nothing is wrong with it. A beautiful thing about the EV is that there is much less to go wrong than in a gas vehicle which has so many more moving parts. I guess they aren't advertising it because they cut their teeth on this one, and now are rolling out their much more expensive EV line. Just think: if they advertised this slow-charging model as their first all EV, the Mercedes reputation would suffer. It's like a prototype they made while learning the EV technology from Tesla. I'm happy with it!
Robert I test drove the same car last year. I loved it! But just like you I thought "why is there no rapid charge option?" Obviously when MERCEDES first designed this car. The thought to themselves, let's not put a rapid charge option on there so nobody buys one. Because deep down they thought electric cars would never work.
Oh by the way. The flappy paddle regen braking on this car is simply genius. All EV's should have this.
Keep up the great work Robert. Best channel on RUclips by a country mile!!! 👍
I own this car (lease) in California and it's wonderful for my local needs. The demo car was missing the keyless option which is available. Very surprised that car didn't have because it had the premium display and wheels. My dealer almost forgot to give me the button that goes in the "Ignition" to make it keyless.
One NEVER buys this car you lease it. It's a piece of technology and as such wait till we get closer to peak EV before buying.
BTW I suspect MB HATES this car and probably loses $15,000 USD on each one.
When I picked up my car at the dealership I got a 3 minute demo since no one knew anything about the vehicle. I have had it a year and just learned about adjusting the regen from the video. Ha!
Hi Robin, I wonder if you could spare a few minutes to feedback on the vehicle ? I am about to buy a 2016 2nd hand B250e and I wonder what your experience with the car has been/was ? I will use it for school runs and 24miles commute to work, so the fast charge is not an issue for me. Thanks. J.
why would people buy this, 90 miles range with no rapid charging, ok
mercedes dont want you 2 buy for now..that is why its like that ...egist just 2 please some governments
Oliver Gunn - because it does fast charge at 11 kW from the many available AC chargers! Other makes have SLOW AC chargers and depend on the few DC chargers, where u have to sit and wait, while it charges. The MB you can leave charging and it is (ironically) fully charged as soon as you are back from a meeting or whatever...
+E.T. ET - phone home and stop spamming the threads with your spin in the lack of DC quick charging. Plenty of people have experience with cars that charge on AC only. People have even added more chargers to their LEAFs and gotten more than the 45A this Benz is capable of. But again - when a person needs a car to replace ICE - and that's what we need! - then we must must have DC charging. 80% in 20 minutes is a must have moving forward - that's a full order of magnitude faster! If this car came out in 2010 with the 1st gen LEAF then sure - celebrate! It might work for you, but it's not enough for all.
My guess why it's missing a rapid charger: they want it to fail so they can say "EVs are not wanted" and keep on selling their old ICE models. Soon the "old" car manufacturers will take the backseat to chinese manufacturers, who are developing electric vehicles (currently mostly for the chinese market, but I don't think they'll stay just there for long).
sounds like it
They're shooting themselves in the foot then, what with the Bolt and the Model 3 coming out. Instead of getting people to stick with their ICE models the market will flock to other EV makers.
superdau. either that or they have another model in the planning that does have a rapid charger and this one is just made to feel the market.
That is actually the case, at the motor show someone with daily commute that would have fit perfectly for the B-class ED (80km a day) asked for the car. The Mercedes dealer said it is a good car, but he would really recommend the diesel version, the electic model would be developing technology and you can't beat the economics of a diesel...
I don't get this conspiracy theory that automakers don't want to sell electric cars. Automakers want to sell whatever car the public wants to buy, quite simply. There is no ideology, they will happily sell electric, bio-gas, natural gas, hydrogen or whatever other fuel car as long as there is a market for it to recoup investments. It's a business and their only real interest is in making money.
No DC fast charge? That's like my 2016 e-Golf SE: it only has a 3.6 kW L2 charging*; we charge on 110v at home with no problems. I do think that VW and Mercedes ought to make DC fast charging standard though -- even the iMiev has it. Btw, that's not correct about this Merc and the Outlander being the only EVs with adjustable regen: e-Golf has it too (on the gear shifter; moves left-right). *2016 e-Golf SE can have the standard e-Golf 7.2 kW + DC fast charge installed... for a cool $1300 or so.
Designed and advertised to fail by Mercedes. A self-fulfilling prophecy.
I would totally consider this as my first electric car over, say, a Tesla M3 but the lack of fast charging is a dealbreaker. There's really two things that can't be negotiated with EVs - either have a long range when you don't need to charge during a trip or have very fast charging so i don't waste time at a station (even if i have to charge multiple times during a trip).
Just to clarify things: The B250e is not available with a DC charging port. Neither CCS nor Chademo but it does come with a 11kW onboard charger standard which is quite remarkable.
They have the effort of putting a 11kw charger in the car, but they can’t do fast charging? Absurd
@@thatpersonsmusic Actually Tesla had the effort. All drivetrain components are supplied by them. This car could technically even use their superchargers. Everything is there. Tesla specifically offered this to other OEMs. But Mercedes declined.
I LOVE this car ..I have one !!!!!
hi... could u tell me plz how many kms can run when it Fully Charge????
I like the fact that this looks like a normal car and not some outlandish vision of the future from several years back. I can't abide the styling of certain EVs just because they're electric. Only issue is the blue grille and mirrors. Stop with the blue! It's hideous!
I came across these a few months ago and here in the states they can be had for $15k USD. I'm finally able to buy an EV and am looking at anything that has 100+ miles of range, in town only (as most cities are 100+ miles apart and usually separated by mountains). The Chevy Spark EV has CCS fast charge, same range or a little better and costs $10k USD. But the B class electric drive is so nice and around town it's perfect. Thanks for the vid!
Either Mercedes is monstrously stupid (doubtful), or this is a very back-handed, nominal effort so they don't stand out as being anti-electric. It seems designed to promote a negative stereotype of electrics. Are there aftermarket solutions?
Aftermarket solutions? For a rapid charger? Wow. I'm trying to imagine how many of the internal components they'd have to rework. They'd have to replace the charger for sure, but then there's the battery management system, which would have to be hacked or completely replaced. Plus a lot of the car's firmware. Also, to fast charge a battery pack, you'd need to be intimately familiar with the pack's behavior, down to the chemistry of the individual cells... actually now that I think of it, the whole pack would have to be designed for fast charging right from the start. It wouldn't be an aftermarket solution as much as a redesign of the whole powertrain.
Anyway, short answer: No.
Actually, it's not that hard if you know what you're doing. I have the JdeMO CHAdeMO mod for the RAV4 EV. The Tesla BMS on the car indicates how much current it can take at all times. It also gives the temperature inside the pack, so you can shut down if it goes out of bounds. You just have to know what to listen for on the CANbus. The other half, talking to the CHAdeMO charger is not that hard because it's an open standard. QuickChargePower is currently working on JdeMO for the Tesla Roadster. After that is complete, they will survey B-Class Electric owners to see how much interest there is.
rumors are saying it's the agreement between using Teslas powertrain hence no fast charge. Toyota Engineers gave the same "no space" excuse for the rav4 ev
You are probably the most qualified electric car journo out there and MB should listen. Keep up the good work.
at the end of the day, Fully charged couldn't get the manufacturer to supply a Demo vehicle so a kind viewer let there own car, so the review was done on a British Spec B Class , maybe it didn't have all the options you can get in other countries, but it was a review at face value...... if your don't like the video or don't agree with it make your own review and post it...
Congrats Mercedes. You deliberately nerfed this car.
I have a car like this in Norway (the most selling country for B 250 e) and it has a 11 kW onboard charger.
We use this as our second car - so no long trips. For that we use our Tesla Model S.
24.172 viewers and counting has been misinformed by this 'review' full of serious errors.
Let me assure you, it is a great car. I've driven it for 25.000 km this year so far, so I have "a bit" more of experience with it than the reviewer. The battery is bigger than mentioned in review. It is not 28kWh but 36 - one of the biggest in its class. It is wrong that it does not have a connector for AC charging - it does and it is in fact one of the fastest at 11kW. Thus it charges 3 times as fast as for instance a Leaf from one of the many public AC chargers. The whole driveline and battery was supplied by Tesla. It even has Tesla stickers on the parts. Its my best Merc yet, and I have had two S-classes before.
Now I understand your anger and dismissive comments about my 'review.'
You drive a B250e and you love it, which is great. I loved the car which is why I'm slightly baffled by the determination and anger in your comments.
But let me explain this.
One, I am not a reviewer, never have been, never will be, not trying to be.
I am merely trying to open the door to new ideas, technological breakthroughs, developments and social and political changes that are underway due to those developments.
Although we clearly will continue to disagree about the speed of charging this car, I can see I made a major error in my description of the battery size. Not, at the end of the day, the biggest crime in the history of the human race but an error none the less.
I did not know about the R+ button, it's a great shame I didn't as that is a brilliant feature.
I have decided, in a future episode, to rectify this.
But it doesn't have 'rapid' charging. That, my main criticism, still stands, is true, accurate and worthy of a proper car 'reviewer.'
11kw is fast, not rapid. It's just fast, faster than 3kW, much, much slower than 50 kW.
The general public, used to litres, gallons, mpg and lpk do not necessarily know the difference yet.
The ridiculous terms we use to describe the charging times are inadequate and confusing. One is 'fast' and one is 'rapid.' How is anyone supposed to understand the difference until they've tried to charge the car on a highway rapid chargers, wait 30 minutes for one, and 3 hours for the other.
Thanks for your feedback. The reason why, I am dismissive is because, I fear that a lot of people get the wrong impression of a great electric car. People - who are not knowledgable about EVs - will be led to believe that a car such as a Leaf with 50kW charging capability is much better/faster to charge than a MB with an 11 kW capability. But it is greatly misleading..
For instance, a colleague and myself each have an electric car. He has a Leaf and I have the MB. We work at 2 different locations (A and B) with a distance of app. 70 km between them and 70 km from each to Copenhagen (C) in rough figures. We often drive around in this triangle.
If my colleague arrives from home to let's say workplace A, he has to recharge there for hours before being able to continue to B or C because of the slow 3,7 charger in the Leaf. However, once he is at location B, we do in fact have a 50kW DC charger there that he can take advantage of subject to availability. But he cannot park there. He has to move the car, once it is fully charged.
As the battery in his Leaf is only 24 kWh (gross) he cannot even charge at the full effect of 50kW. The charger will automatically slow down not to damage his battery. But even if he succeeds to recharge without too much trouble and drives on to a meeting in C, he has to find and stop at one of the scarce DC-chargers at the destination or on the way home. Otherwise, he simply cannot make it home!
I, on the other hand, plug in the car at either destination, because there are 11 kW type 2 outlets everywhere - and I can park there, not just stop and charge, while I wait.
So, the reality is for everyday commuting like this, an 11kW built-in AC charger is a huge advantage to a 3,7 kW built-in AC charger and the added DC capability. The DC capability is in reality only a benefit for long journeys over 200 km. And if one often goes that far, neither is really suited.
E.T. Driving mine for two months only but you described things much better than this report.
This is interesting. It suggests that Mercedes may have designed this car for how people actually drive rather than how we think we do.
Unfortunately, whether it's valid or not, most people do suffer for range anxiety, and designers need to give them what they want, even if it isn't exactly what they need.
+E.T.
Why not have both though? That still doesn't make much sense to me. If I'm buying a new Mercedes that's quite a lot of money I'm spending. Why can't it go 200 km for example? I don't have several different cars to choose from depending on where I'm going. Regardless of it's 11 kW it still seems odd to limit the car in such a way.
In Denmark you're right about 200 km being considered a long trip but we're a tiny country. 200 km isn't considered that long in a lot of places and by not having the rapid charger option Mercedes really limits the interest in their vehicle.
Why can't it have 11 kW *and* a rapid charger option? Now and then you might want to visit family in Jutland (To stick to the Danish example.) or go to Germany for vacation or to fill up on cheap beer.
Haha in my town they use one of these as a police car
3:06 here in Germany you get an 11kW charger - it's 400 V 16A - so I guess this is the same for the U.K.
Thomas Wolf - you are right. The review is full of errors. The reviewer even says it has no AC charger. Wrong!
Very few houses in the UK have a 3 phase 400v supply.
I did a test drive with this car. The local Mercedes dealer's employee actively tried to dissuade me from the very concept of electric cars and actually made fun of me for wanting to test drive this "crippled car" that nobody wants. So yeah, Mercedes isn't doing much to market this car to an interested buyer.
That said, I was underwhelmed by it.
Hanno Zulla - they are loosing money on it. That's why. Trust me it is great!
Really, I don't know. I tried that car and while it was built pretty well, it was the least fun to drive of all the electric cars I tried.
E.T. You're really pushing an agenda aren't you? Merc fanboy trash
Slaughter Round - you are right, I am pushing an agenda - the one of facts over misinformation!
E.T. Except nothing you've said is factual. Stop spamming lies dude, it's sad
It's almost impossible to believe that DB have not fitted this car with fast charging. Perhaps they don't want to show their (very nice but not cheap) ICE cars in too bad a light!
Seems to me the lack of rapid charge is a flaw by design, so as to not compete too well with the petrol/diesel variants?.
Why would you spend loads on R&D to not sell it? Your point makes no sense. If they didn't want to risk competition, they wouldn't have built it.
Its a compliance car. Basically they do the R&D on it, sell a few models of it and profit largely off the carbon credits that they get. Its sad, but selling drivetrains to compliance car manufacturers was largely how Tesla funded themselves in the early days. A little annoying how close the Mercedes is from being a good EV, a CHAdeMO plug isn't that hard?!?
Banter Man - there are no holes in the ignorance of the reviewer. The car charges 3 times as fast as a Leaf for instance from an AC charger!!!
Bullshit.
A compliance car?
Turtytreeandaturd I think it is a compliance car for CARB. In 2011 or 2012 Tesla needed money to build the models S and they make a deal with MB to make the drivetrain for a compliance car call the B class electric. This was a money maker for Tesla and let MB keep selling gas cars in CA. This car was simply seen by MB as the cost of doing business in CA. Details like rapid charging, a better low speed sound and appropriate tires was not worth the effort to MB as the car was viewed as a right off. I went to my local MB dealer and asked to test drive it. It took asking four sales people before any of them could confirm MB sold an EV. Then after they found one in the far end of the lot, I educated the dealer on how it operated. It's sad because it is a nice car just missing a few key EV features.
@Turtytreeandaturd Yes most likely for California. I'm surprised the dealership car was even charged.
The EU has such rules, too. The average CO2 output on the whole range of cars of a manufacturer must not be higher than 130 g/km. So if they build a "compliance car" with 0 g/km, they are allowed to build another car with up to 260 g/km. ((0 + 260) / 2 = 130)
It is
Thanks Robert. Well Mercedes truly did manage to nobble what could have been a nice ev. Still they may catch up and have rapid charging by 2050. On the question of cost I saw somewhere an ex demo for sale for £10000.
Mercedes and the rest of them are dragging their heels.
I'm sure if this car had rapid charging it would be one of the best selling EV's like the Nissan Leaf. I like the fact it's a normal car with the advantages of being pure electric.
probably made it to tick a certificate box somewhere.
I wanted to test drive this car but the sales guy who contacted me basically wouldn't let me have a go until I was sure I was interested in buying it.
To which I later realized a comeback could have been on the lines of, "I can't be sure I want to buy it unless I try it and compare it with other cars I've test driven." [And I do have a sizeable list to go by because other brands were far less stringent. Although I'm still wondering if BMW will ever let me test their i8...]
Anyway--he won't be hearing from me any time soon...
It is a car for the school run. Waiting 4-5 hours for a recharge is fine in that scenario. For many, 90-100 miles would cover the whole week's travel. Also, the batteries will last far longer by not being fried by rapid chargers. The car may actually be worth a lot more than the 12 year-old Prius that only runs on the petrol engine as the batteries died a long time ago. I have bought the diesel version as the range of the EV is not enough for my needs. To be honest, none of the current (more affordable) EV's have a sensible range at present.
Edit: I have since learnt that an 11 Kw/hr Tesla AC charger will work with this car. It runs at about 2 min per 1% of charge. So around 3 hrs for a full top-up.
It is exactly as diesel B class Mercedes, great small car with loads of space, I love it! Diesels have the same key, same everything... So its just the same car with small battery back instead of diesel/petrol engine.
It's a great car. We've had ours for 2 years and have driven it over 40000 km. Trunk space is simply superb. It would really be perfect if it had fast charging. There is a mod made by an american that actually can be fitted to the battery (jDemo) that will give you Chademo fast charging but it costs 3000-4000 dollars so might be a bit steep for most people.
Almost bought one. Then I heard from people who had bought one what miles they really got and 85 miles was on a good day and that was too close for comfort. Also without the lack of a fast charger made it even worse.
Now, they have reintroduced taxes again on electric cars here where I live, so sadly my next car will the cheapest POS car I can find.
Shame really.
CHEVY BOLT EV: 250 miles according to Consumer Reports. And me. I have one. Bought it June of 2017. 8 months ago. Best car I've ever had. Get an EVSE installed in your garage and you'll never have to charge anywhere else. The whole "fast charging" is overrrated anyway.
@@alexanderhamilton8585 t
The e-Golf and e-Up! can also adjust the level of regen. and turn it off
I like the key. I hired a car with the proximity key thing and lost the key thing in one of my pockets. If only they'd put like a little holder for the key thing in an easily accessible place right next to my hand that you could put the thing in when in the car and take out when you leave.
Maybe the slow charge is because there is not active cooling of the battery pack? Just guessing
Michael Palazzola that seems to be a good guess. Too few manufacturers cool the battery effectively, or warm it up in summer. Batteries have a preferred range of temperatures to function at properly
I do love your regular content and your enthusiasm, first subscribed ages ago because I knew and liked you from scrapheap but stayed subscribed and watch every video you make because they are all engaging, well produced and well thought out. Keep it up!
According to autocar it can be charged in 3 hours www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/mercedes-benz/b-class-electric-drive
WARNING ALERT: COMPLIANCE CAR - AVOID!
Nice video. You should also try electric motorbikes.
MichaelKingsfordGray he tried electric scooter and electric bike but not an electric motorbike like zero sr, lightning and tork T6X.
All the electric motorbike companies have gone bankrupt, so that mite be the reason! ;D
Probably not. kindly have a look at this. torkmotorcycles.com/
It's a CGI image of the bike, they have not even got a retail version!
Robert is not a motorcycle rider. In the past he borrowed a friend to ride the bike and help him reviewing it.
I personally would like to see more bikes on the show, not scooter things, real bikes, but understand it might be hard to have someone who understands bikes available when you need them. We don't want Robert to crash, or ride a bike without a license.
I just found out about a Suzuki which may or may not be available next year. That definitely caught my attention.
yes the rapid charger is a let down... but what about those daft blue bits? why have a blue grill and mirrors!
I have just bought this Car (2017 B250 E Sport is the exact model with lot of options came with it :) )..Its a stunning high spec Luxury Car, Mercedes build quality is great that can be seen in this Car both interior & exterior. Whosoever out there thinking to go electric & if your 80-90% journeys are in Town / commute wise go for this Car you will be surprised with its abilities.
Basically a Tesla drivetrain in there, so no real reason there is no rapid charge ability. Looks like they wanted to keep the identical MB layout and feel, even though you could do more with it, and reused all the body panels off the production line and the majority of the chassis as well. This basically was a half assed attempt, just to fit a tick mark, MB could definitely make a better version with a lot more ability, but they still want to sell moving pistons and blowers. Would be a killer if they upgraded it a little, as the brand name would be a big attraction, plus it is a perfect city car.
If I had one that warning speaker would be disconnected in minutes. Even an ice cream truck player would be an improvement.
You can say " Stupid" Llewellyn ....
EVs are in a transitional phase, so every car is a compromise in some respect. The compromise with this car is that you get no rapid DC and poor cold weather range, but in EXCHANGE you get a really f*ng nice car with a Tesla drivetrain (quick, proven, long life battery) for not a lot of money!
I picked up a used 2014 6 months ago, with 22k miles off a 3yr lease, still with a year of warranty, for $17k US. We were starting to put a lot of money into the gas tank of our Toyota Sienna minivan doing round-town trips for the kid's activities, and now we are saving quite a bit, and have also switched to a 100% renewable electricity plan.
We have three kids, so having seating for 3 in the back is key. Leaf, i3, Volt, they don't have this. Bolt, Tesla, Kona, too expensive or not available yet. I mean, do I want to pay $50k+ for a Tesla that will fit my family, but still not handle trips like my minivan? NO! Do I want to pay $17k for a 99% adequate daily-driver that leaves my gas wagon in the garage for weeks at a time and has Tesla battery and motor, and is a Mercedes? YES!!
As for lack of rapid charger, and the why, I care not a bit. I wouldn't want to stop every hour of highway driving to charge, even if such charger was available at convenient 70 mile intervals, which it is not. So its lack is a net plus as it drives the resale value down to be more affordable to me.
In 5-8 years when E-minivans are available with 120-150kwh battery packs and 400kw DC rapid charging, Our Sienna will be replaced, and that will be great. Meanwhile, the B-class electric is also great for what it does.
Hey Ransom,
Our situation is the same. My wife and I really enjoyed the test drive. She's is looking for a comfortable/roomy EV for all the daily city/local errands currently handled by our Sienna. Any comments on reliability and service experience since you posted last? Price is right on the beauty she's looking at. We noted a replaced motor at 43K (2 months ago) when vehicle was acquired off lease from MB. How is yours performing? And any word from similar owners? I have a '15 MS that I love, but she not the sedan type :-)
It looks like the designers and engineers wanted to build a lovely electric car, and someone in MB doesn't want electrics. Solution, don't advertise it, ignore journalist's emails, don't have a press car, refuse to licence any fast charging. So it will do exactly what the management want, provide proof that they can take to the board that no-one will buy an electric car. It will look great in a powerpoint presentation where they show that they lost 50 000 euro on every one of the 300 they sold.
e-Golf (and presumably other VW/Audi/Porsche EVs and hybrids) has multiple levels of adjustable regen via the tiptronic (left-right movement) control on the shift lever. It's very convenient and intuitive to use. However the best regen control is integrating regen with the initial travel of the brake pedal. That way, all the braking is on the brake pedal, where it ergonomically is preferred and expected.
Perhaps an advantage of a slow charge is that the battery will last almost forever.
I agree.
Nope it won't....
@pol1250 It's true. (He is not literally meaning forever!) To make the battery last for 150,000 miles it would be best to keep the charge between 60%-80% which would be hard on a car with 90mile range. (18 miles gap between 60% to 80%.) I would tell anyone who was going to buy this car, WAIT FOR THE TESLA MODEL 3! haha
Slower charging is ideal with solar panels
Hey Robert, I asked Mercedes via their facebook page (facebook.com/MercedesBenz/) posting a link to your video. They got back to me within a couple of hours and redirected me to the website. I went to look up the english version of it. Here you go: www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/vehicles/passenger-cars/b-class/the-new-b-class-electric-drive-2/ ... Are you driving the first or the second version of the MB Electric Drive ?
Maybe you will have more success talking to them via Facebook
What? two version?, what are its difference?
How to identify it?
In The USA it charges up to 10+ kW level 2. You didn't mention the Range extender.
What range extender?
Robert is right on this one. The B250e has a 11 kW Tesla *AC* charger that's faster than the 3.3 or 6.6 kW AC chargers on the Leaf, provided you have three phase service at home.
What it doesn't have is a *DC* fast charger, the likes of which are popping up everywhere nowadays. The Leaf has this, so you can charge it overnight slowly on AC or do a 50 kW DC fast charge when you're out and about. It's a stupid omission because the B-class diesel is a comfortable vehicle for long drives, whereas the electric B gets relegated to being a plush golf cart.
So basically, Mercedes wasted their effort. Something that could be a great car now is really behind Tesla. Great job, Mercedes...
I don't wonder it's secret at all. They just took ICE car and change the tank and engine with batteries and motor. What a lazy approach. Serial manufacturing at its worst use :( As a manufacturer, I myself would be ashamed for this product.
And a little note. Looking at the numeric keyboard, I more and more like Tesla Model 3 dashboard.
Indeed, a very good question, why would they make an electric car without rapid charging (and not-too-amazing battery capacity)? Perhaps because they didn't want to make one at all, but were mandated to do so by legislation in the US? I'm not too familiar with what exactly is required of car manufacturers in e.g. Califormia, but have understood a certain percentage of the vehicles they sell (or produce?) have to be zero emissions vehicles. So, to sell all their luxury cars to Hollywood stars, they have to also sell ZEV's, and spending the absolute minimum time and effort making one makes sense. The fact that the B250e is exactly the same as the ICE versions probably means it is cheap for them to churn out a few electric ones. Too bad they don't realise they could actually get a nice share of a growing market with relatively little effort (yeah, I know nothing about making cars) of fitting in a little more cells and a rapid charger. Or perhaps it is a result of a compromise in a very conservative company - some people at MB want them to be in the EV game but because of the internal opposition, they have been given very little freedom to give it a go.
Test drove one in the summer. Very well built car as mentioned. The deal breaker for me was no rapid charge which even I couldn't understand. The adjustable regen was very nice to use, and it had a nice bit of kit on it.
Other points to make, the dealer I used in Norwich didn't know what they were selling, I had to do all my own research! Servicing costs were horrific for an EV also! I believe from memory the car will support 10kw charging, so as mentioned about 4 hours on a 7.7kw public charger should see you fully charged, but no good on a long journey.
What servicing costs? There's nothing to service! Well, other than a brake fluid change every 2 years...
A car maker who wants to go under. Such stupidity to not have fast charging.
Oh dear Robert. Now I will be worrying all day about the lost baby whale.
No rapid charger ???? Dumbest electric car ever made. Pointless.
Hanniffy Dinn - you are mistaken as is the reviewer. The built-in Tesla charger can charge the car with 11kW. Not many in that size/price bracket can compete with that!
E.T.
that's not the point, it doesnt have a rapid charger. You can as far as I can tell fit in a rapid charger. Might be worth it, as this car isn't pig ugly and a real car.
It's the only electric car outside tesla I'd buy for that reason.
I might look into how much it costs to fit a fast charger. Will still be cheaper than a tesla.
I need to be able to drive anywhere if I want.
Hanniffy Dinn - wrong. Fast AC charging is more important. I have a bit of experience with this car, as I have driven it for 25.000 km this year - with no charging issues!
E.T.
You can have both you know !!!!!
I guess you are just stuff like commuting to work and back and charging overnight.
Most people want the option to go on a 200+ mile journey and fast charging when they need to.
You clearly aren't doing that.
It's a good car is deserves that option.
Hanniffy Dinn - you can't have your cake and eat it for this price. ;-) It is a luxurious electric car for pennies. I don't have to wait for it to charge overnight. I typically go for journeys of 50-100 km. And as my errands usually last 1-1,5 hours, the car is fully charged, when I move on.
I bought one of these in Nov 2016 from a reseller company. Mine was just over 14 months old with 5k miles. It had started life as a Mercedes group car, so it had every extra going. I got it for half the new list price.
I get the "no rapid charge" bit, but that's not a great issue for me. I got a 6kw home charging point from Polar and do almost all my charging at home (pay the extra and get a tethered charger, it's well worth it) I can charge up to 80% capacity in about 4-6 hours and that gives me an indicated 65-80 mile range depending on weather etc, although I've found that indicated range often translates into more miles when driving, e.g. start with 80 miles, drive 20 miles, end with 70 miles. Weird!
Charge to 100% capacity is possible and will give extra range, but it's not recommended if you want to keep your battery happy.
I test drove the Mercedes and Nissan Leaf. Mercedes won it for me with the sheer quality of the drive and interior space. I can fit golf clubs and a trolley into the Mercedes boot, impossible with the Leaf.
For my style of motoring the Mercedes was a good choice and I have no regrets so far. If you can live with the range and slower charge it's well worth a place on your shortlist.
I got the blue colour and had the rather silly "electric drive" decal removed from the side.
Love the 'Fully Charged" RUclips reviews. Lots of relevant information uncluttered by pretentious presentation. Keep it going!
Hey do you still have it as i am thinking of buying a 7 year old one
And do you still love it?
The mini tesla crippled by no rapid. Such a shame, you can pick up a lease for less than £200pcm, pretty good value.
No Rapid because they want it to fail. A CCS will fit in the Gas port turned 90 degrees counter clockwise
pretty obvious that mercedes does not want to publicize their electric line of cars until they are ready, and they are truly attractive.
they do want to get some out there, to get feedback in real world conditions.
makes sense.
The lack of rapid charge capability has nothing to do with the size of the fuel filler cover. Daimler is just getting started on vehicle powertrain electrification without a stratospheric vehicle budget (a la AMG SLS ED) and they couldn't build a battery pack that could withstand rapid charging. Meanwhile every other EV I can buy today has this capability. They are behind and playing catch-up. Probably the reason why the test car isn't widely advertised.
really like the color grading on this one!
As the whole drivetrain is from Tesla, they could have all the good stuff. Supercharging, CHAdeMO adapter, a second 11kW Charger (yes, its the exact same unit as in the Model S). There is a lot of space left in the sandwich construction for all of that. But Daimler strangly didn't offer anything from that. Oh and batterywise, it's a 36kWh battery with 28 daily useable or 33,5 if you opt for "Range Mode" (charging to 100% like in a Tesla). Its made of 3696 cells, 18650 but a slightly lower capacity than the cells used in Model S.
Asking Mercedes for information on their evs for me was a very frustrating experience. The huge dealership I went to here in Soest, Germany I had to convince the people there of the future of the technology. Not only were they arrogant pricks, they also did not have a clue about the technology nor enthusiasm for it or even the slightest grasp of the problems this is about to solve. It was extremely off-putting.
I think I can see an easy upgrade opportunity for Mercedes for their 2017 year model.
The problem with ev s is battery supply only Tesla is building a battery factory for 500 000 cars where will all the car builders get there battery I guess thats why Elon calls it Gigafacotory 1
lots of people drive waaaaay under 50 km per day. with your charging station at home (overnight) this is an excellent substitute for a fossilburner. the one or two weeks a year you want to go on vacation you go to sixt and rent a nice vehicle for your holiday. easy solution, still good for your wallet
Entertaining and informative. As a city car, it probably does n't need rapid charging, I have an i3 with no rapid charger.......but I have the range extender in case I want go anywhere serious. But I hardly use it on my 45 miles round trip.
Many mercedes are leased to companies for large fleets, might be that exactly these costumers where not happy to pay the extra money for rapid charge. "No one uses rapid charge, you simply take another car for long trips".
I stopped searching for thus vehicle when he mentioned it takes, 4 hours to charge. Not wasting time
The reason car companies do this crap is so they can turn around and say: "There was no demand for our EVs, let's stick to building ICE cars...". What they don't seem to udnerstand is with a 40kwh battery and 50kwh rapid charge they will sell 100,000s!
The on board charger is also 3ph, so on public ac it will charge at 11kw. according to original comments from Mercedes they said Tesla could not fit the second charger to bring it up to 22Kw on 3ph similar to the model S
You can buy a BMW i3 without a rapid charger...you can... but you shouldn't 😉
£32,600 shopping trolley for trips locally bloody hell it's an expensive short range vehicle.
Why are we still finding 90 miles range acceptable ? and on a car of this quality ? and 13A charging? no way ......my 40 year old Enfield seems advanced compared .......I don't get it......lovely looking car though.....
countteddy - info in the "review" is WRONG. It can charge at 16 amps, three phases (11kW)!!!
Not bad for the Price £26,950 (including government grant{£32,670 without grant); 0-62mph 7.9sec; Top speed 99mph; Economy 18.0kW/h per 100km; Range 124 miles (really 90 miles) ; CO2 zero at tailpipe; Kerb weight 1725kg; Engine asynchronous electric motor; 28kWh lithium-ion battery; Power 179bhp; Torque 251lb ft; Gearbox single speed automatic, variable energy regeneration. I'd recommend waiting for the Tesla model 3 or the new 45kwh Nissan leaf which will be out mid 2017!
How erroneous can a review be? First of all, the battery does not have a capacity of 28 kWh. It is gross 36 kWh, of which 28kWh are available under normal circumstances. Pressing the R+ button gives access to another 5 kWh.
About the charging - it has a very fast 3 phases (11 kW) charger built in! Thus it recharges much faster than most others. Granted it does not have a socket for rapid DC charging. But under normal circumstances (trips less than 115 miles) it charges much faster than the others!!!
I am very aware that this is not a 'review' or even a review. However, I stand by the statements I made and the information I gleaned direct from Mercedes. This car has a 28 kWh battery, if the model I drove has an R+ button, the owner, who has been driving this car for a year, would have known about it and informed me.
It has, as you and indeed I stated, an 11 kW charger built in. That is not 'faster than most.'
That is massively, embarrassingly slower than all.
Even the Mahindra e2o has DC rapid charging, the Leaf, the Zoe, the i3, the Outlander, the Hyundai IONIQ, the Kia Soul all have a 50 kW capability. The Tesla has a 150 kW charge capability, so on normal trips, using a public charger, it charges much, much, much slower than anything else on the market.
Other than that, everything I said is a just silly 'review'
fullychargedshow - WRONG. The battery is 36kWh!!! But MB only lists the accessible 28 kWh, where other manufacturers list the gross capacity. The R+ button is standard in some countries, and extra in others. If the tested car did not have it, the owner omitted the most essential option. Many other mistakes. You are even continuing to argue that the 11kW charger is not faster than most others. It is the fastest AC charger - except for the Zoe!
E.T. I got a brand new 66 plate B250e and it doesn't have the range button.
E.T. It also doesn't come with the regeneration paddles which is disappointing.
Glasgow_Red - then u missed the only essential option. Were u not informed about it?
TL;DR; Replace the OBC for a 3 phase charger.
Well, it wouldn't be so hard to replace the existing onboard charger (OBC) which is single phase 30 Amps for something which Tesla, Renault and BMW already ship. It's a 11 or 22kW 3 phase chargers, same plug, no adjusting but cut the charge times to 1-2 hours.
It's a shame that the new Hyundai Ioniq EV does not have a 3 phase charger either in a car ment for Europe.
This has been released primarily for quotas not for marketing to the masses hence no fast charging, Mercedes doesn't want anyone to buy it. Andy didn't you get the memo regarding this stupid attitude from makers who have Zero interest in making proper beverlys?
Great review as ever ;0) Thanks.
So sad about Mercedes sabotaging what seems a nice EV! Quite funny they are being dragged kicking and screaming, into the 21st EV century : D lol
Can you imagine the scene... there you are wandering down your local high street on a fine summer's Saturday afternoon, with all the traffic trundling along at a snail's pace (as usual). Only, hello...! What's that cacophony of lowing going on?? Oh, it's all those EVs' 'pedestrian warning sounds' playing - like an army of Alzheimer-suffering bag-pipe-players on valium... Can't we just have the natural peace and quiet of an EV motor to accompany our perambulations?! PLEASE?!!!
No the Zoe doesn't have 50kW charging. some have 43kW but most have 22kW charging, only twice as fast as the Mercedes...
Kryten shows his feelings about the ridiculous Pedestrian Warning Sound (11:15).
A real statement of intent by Mercedes, not to give this model the feature required overcome many people's range anxiety!
all that technology and ignoring something that cost £100!! just shows how lazy Mercedes are. I would get a Nissan leaf.
Legend has it that if you write a comment early Robert will reply :-) Love your videos, keep up the good work :-)
No rapid charge and similar range to a 1st gen Leaf? If it's relatively cheap for a Merc then that's only because it would have to be! They need to up their game considerably, what with the upcoming crop of 200 mile+ EVs.
YOU CAN GET AN AFTERMARKET CHAdeMO fast charging system for the B250e
so many varibles means SMOKE AND MIRRORS means Not saying how much profit the company wants to make from selling it to you as a middle man
This car have tesla drivetrain, if I'm not mistaken it is exactly the same engine as in Model S.
Range is perfect for a second car for use around town. My farthest trip is to Ikea, 25 miles away. No rapid charging needed. Paddle "shifters" are fun. Tesla motor, Tesla battery. Vinyl interior smells bad. I wish it had leather. Mercedes dealers hate them.