Some cynics genuinely believe that the executive limo will be an anachronism fairly shortly, and even the richest among us will be tootling about in electric wheelie bins.
Well cynics, wrap this up in rice paper and smoke it. Executives arise - your saviour has arrived. The S 500 Hybrid is a 5.5-second to 62mph S-Class that will navigate 88.3 miles of varying terrain using merely a gallon of fuel. Every kilometre only results in 74g of carbon dioxide too. Impressive, yes?
It does that by using lithium ion batteries to power the electric motor, which is linked to a 3.5-litre V6 petrol but can push the barge alone for up to 19 miles before running out of juice. It has start/stop, of course, and takes 4.5 hours to charge at a normal power supply. It'll take an hour at one of these fancy high-powered charging points we keep hearing makers boasting about.
See it at
Frankfurt, or come here for our pictures next week.
Mark Nichol - 11 Sep 2009