2016 Mercedes-Benz S-class Hybrid Review

2016 Mercedes-Benz S-class Hybrid Review - Navigating via a metropolitan canyon, skyscrapers to either side, the 2016 Mercedes-Benz S550 Crossbreed slides along silently, its air suspension smoothing the pockmarked sidewalk and the log cabin protecting me from the midtown bustle. I expect these fine-tuned qualities from the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, however this one brings extra peaceful, as an electrical motor drives the wheels, leaving the engine temporarily inactive.

The S550 Hybrid not only brings a full hybrid drivetrain to Mercedes-Benz's flagship S-Class, it adds plug-in capacity, allowing owners charge its 8.7 kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery pack from the grid.

Unlike the totally electrical B-Class, which utilizes driveline innovation from Tesla, the S550 Crossbreed's drive system originates from Mercedes-Benz, with a gasoline engine as well as electrical motor blending power with a seven-speed transmission to the rear wheels. I can choose its electric drive mode, but the S550 Hybrid only goes 20 miles on a complete fee before the Crossbreed drive mode immediately takes over. Still, that 20 miles should be enough to beat London's congestion or sneak into your estate's driveway to capture the aid taking cutlery.


2016 Mercedes-Benz S-class Hybrid Review

Incredibly, the S550 Hybrid comes in at the very same base cost as the conventional S550 sedan, $94,400 in the United States. With the hybrid, you will certainly sacrifice 13 horsepower, 436 complete system outcome compared to 449 horsepower, as well as 0.4 secondly of your zero-to-60 miles per hour time compared with the S550's V-8, but average energy economic climate should jump by 5 or 6 mpg, into the high 20s. The S550 Crossbreed I drove had a variety of bundles, jumping the total rate to $117,515 with destination. You will not discover anything identified as an S550 on UK or Australian Mercedes-Benz dealership great deals. The UK matching is the S500 e L, with a base cost of ₤ 88,620, while the only S-Class crossbreed Mercedes-Benz supplies in Australia is the short-wheelbase S300 BlueTec Hybrid.

As with all brand-new S-Class cars in the US, the S550 Hybrid is a long-wheelbase version, implying a giraffe's well worth of legroom in the rear seats. Put the rear-seat power change, environment control and also fluffy headrests, and I would certainly virtually favor to be chauffeured around in this auto, except for that it is so intriguing to drive.

Similar to various other plug-in hybrids, I might marvel at as well as partially regulate the interplay between gasoline engine and also electrical motor. The virtual tachometer displayed on the large LCD panel showed me when the engine switched off, either at a drop in traffic or when there was enough charge in the battery pack to drive the wheels. I might pull up a power circulation animation, showing the mix of power in between engine and also motor, and whether the battery was accumulating energy from stopping regeneration.

A lot more directly, I might work with Hybrid, E-mode, E-saver as well as Charge modes for the hybrid system, and E, E plus or S for the drive modes. Amongst the former options, Hybrid blends fuel and also electric freely, E-mode drives for as long as feasible under pure electric power, E-saver protects the battery charge by relying more on the engine and Cost attempts to add juice to the battery pack with the engine and also regenerative braking. Meanwhile, S is for Sport, sharpening throttle and tightening up steering, while E as well as E plus maximize gas economic climate. It's an overwelming set of choices, although most drivers will just choose the default Hybrid and also E methods.

Starting fresh with a complete cost, the S550 Hybrid's control panel showed 18 miles of estimated electrical range, based on just how the vehicle had actually most lately been driven, less than the prospective 20 miles. I switched to E-mode for the crossbreed system and also the E plus drive setup, and also took off right into San Francisco's hefty metropolitan website traffic. The engine remained off as I increased from each stoplight, the 85-kilowatt electric motor showing ample to obtain moving.

2016 Mercedes-Benz S-class Hybrid Review

The silence of the trip and the smooth velocity complemented the S550 Hybrid's luxury for a really superb encounter. To extensively delight in the drive, I switched on my massage seat as well as played music from my phone through the 13-speaker Burmester audio system. The audio quality was crystal-clear, highlighting each tone as well as subtle audio from the songs I played. Ever before hear the mild cough and also intake of breath at the beginning of Pink Floyd's "Desire You Were Right here"? Those sounds came through quite plainly with this Burmester system.

Tipping the scales at over 5,000 pounds, the S550 Hybrid is a great deal of automobile to relocate, as well as I felt that weight each time it gathered momentum, yet the electrical motor fulfilled the challenge. Nonetheless, those 18 miles confirmed illusory, as after just 7 real miles I had burned up 14 miles of prospective array. I ascribe that variety burn to an adverse setting, with red lights at every crossway and also a few hillsides on my route. Yet those electrical miles had an extremely positive effect on my overall energy economic climate.

I took the opposite tack for one more drive, taking the S550 Hybrid into the hills, along the same twisty track over which I had actually examined its non-hybrid sibling, the S550. Working with Hybrid and Sport for the drive cycles, as well as switching the air suspension to Sporting activity, I left all thought of energy efficiency. When I hammered the accelerator, the 3-liter V-6, with a turbocharger for each and every cyndrical tube banking institution, made a hostile roar as it reached for its top 329 horsepower. Assisted by the electrical motor, there was no doubt on power delivery and also the auto developed steam like a freight train.

In the turns, the air suspension verified its worth, combating the inertial pressures attempting to manipulate suspension traveling. An edge stopping system, applying light inside wheel stopping, aided in the turns, making the S550 Crossbreed feel shorter than its 17.2 feet. Despite having the wheels squealing, it really felt workable and also refined.

There is no Sporting activity mode on the stalk drive selector, but the Sport drive method made shifting from the seven-speed automatic transmission a lot more threatening. As well as paddles on the steering wheel let me hold it in third equipment for an excellent set of turns, the digital tachometer pushing in the direction of the 6,500 rpm redline.

2016 Mercedes-Benz S-class Hybrid Review Simply cruising down the highway proved a delight in the big, comfortable S550 Hybrid, particularly with adaptive trip control as well as lane-keeping help active. Mercedes-Benz truly fine-tuned these innovations to a high degree, making them run efficiently even when various other cars cut in front of me. A fairly brand-new driver support attribute from Mercedes-Benz, Traffic Help, confirmed its mettle as I drove back right into San Francisco one afternoon. All freeway ramps into the city revealed red, implying severe congestion, on the S550 Crossbreed's navigating system, its detailed maps displayed on huge LCD panel equal to that of the instrument collection. I took my location in a bumper-to-bumper line of vehicles, then activated adaptive cruise control, setting my rate to 25 mph.

As website traffic slipped along, the S550 Hybrid kept fairly near to the vehicle ahead, slowing down as well as beginning as needed. Trusting the modern technology, I took my hands off the wheel and also the automobile steered itself, sustaining its placement as it tracked the painted street lines with its cameras. A couple of times I felt it came too near to the left street line, but I never ever had to step in. Under close supervision, I let it drive itself up until I struck surface area streets and also took control of once again. Mercedes-Benz does not clearly enable hands-free driving, and also at rates over 20 miles per hour the automobile would have provided an alerting to get my hands back on the wheel.

Efficiency and connections
While testing the S550 Crossbreed for fuel economy, I used all its different drive modes, yet I discovered E plus one of the most interesting. Similar to its E drive method, E plus enables just what Mercedes-Benz refers to as "cruising," decoupling the wheels from the transmission when coasting to conserve energy. Nonetheless, E plus takes advantage of the vehicle's radar to look at website traffic in advance and predict when sailing may not be the very best strategy. If web traffic is reducing ahead, the car engages the transmission making usage of its regenerative stopping. I ended up defaulting to E plus, as it in no other way interfered with my driving.

Mercedes-Benz articles EPA gas mileage numbers for the S550 Crossbreed of 24 mpg city as well as 30 mpg motorway, recommending an average in the mid-20s. Nonetheless, laying out with a full cost on the battery, driving a path that included dreadfully slow-moving traffic in the city, hammering it along a mountain motorway, travelling down the highway and negotiating suv streets, I accomplished a 29 mpg standard, an impressive number.

Nevertheless, prior to carrying out the fuel economic situation examination, I saw the journey computer ordinary dropping listed below 12 mpg in city driving without any grid cost on the battery. As holds true with all plug-in hybrids I've evaluated, typical fuel economic climate will differ greatly with exactly how regularly you plug it in.

2016 Mercedes-Benz S-class Hybrid Review To aid discover locations to plug in, Mercedes-Benz includes an app in the S550 Hybrid's infotainment system together with Google local search, TuneIn and Yelp. This application let me see a listing of neighboring electric automobile charging stations, liking some fundamental information on fees and plug kinds. The S550 Crossbreed consists of a plug-in port at the rear, so you will certainly want to back into garage, and also needs concerning 2.5 hrs for a full charge. Getting the vehicle's native apps running took quite a bit of determination, as I had to wait a significant amount of money of time viewing a screen that said "Setting up an Internet link." This has actually been a problem with Mercedes-Benz's application connection, a minimum of in the United States, as the vehicle does not appear to maintain an always-on connection with its mobile network.

Managing the S550 Crossbreed's apps as well as various other infotainment attributes, such as the stereo and also hands-free phone system, is something of a difficulty. Mercedes-Benz adds a touchpad hanging over its previous dial controller that accepts motions and also alphanumeric tracing input, amounting to 2 distinctive approaches of choosing onscreen material. While I had a good time playing with both input approaches, it would probably be much less distracting if Mercedes-Benz streamlined the system. In the plus column, the system was very receptive.

Electric deluxe
The present generation of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a very luxurious and also comfy car. The 2016 S550 Crossbreed includes the appealing spin of the plug-in crossbreed drivetrain, letting S-Class proprietors experience totally electrical driving. I extremely question that potential buyers in this price range penny-pinch over fueling prices, yet it can work as a small bit of environmental cred compared to the rest of the S-Class lineup. Proprietors can connect in alongside their colleagues' Teslas in the firm parking lot.

The wealthy tech geek will certainly get a kick out of the gasoline-electric drive interaction while delighting in one of one of the most comfy autos when traveling. Mercedes-Benz's driver aid functions are at the cutting edge of the industry for production vehicles, as a result of very early research study and also financial investment in the technologies.

The big screens making up the control panel as well as infotainment system are impressive, specifically when looking at a woodland of made buildings in a city location on the navigation system's maps. The infomercial system consists of a great set of electronic audio resources together with a hands-free phone system, yet Mercedes-Benz should do some work with this interface, as the touchpad does not suit the dial controller well, instead composing a separate, duplicate control system. Net apps could possibly also be far better integrated within this system, although most motorists will not have the patience for the auto to create its information connection.

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