Mercedes-Benz F 800 Style Concept to Showcase Green Technologies

Would you buy a 136-horsepower Mercedes-Benz? What if it were powered by hydrogen fuel cells? Are you so committed to green-car technology that, besides the six-figure price tag, you would put up with zero-to-60 mile-per-hour times of more than 11 seconds?

Well, that is sort of the value proposition behind the Mercedes F 800 Style “research vehicle” that the German automaker is planning to unveil at the Geneva auto show, which opens to the news media on March 2.

Because the F 800 is a concept car — and 13th in a line of what Mercedes calls “research vehicles,” introduced since 1981 — it is likely to change by the time anything remotely like it makes its way to production, which would be at least three years from now.

Actually, the F 800 could come in different flavors. Mercedes will also display a plug-in hybrid version that can run up to 18 miles on electric power alone. The plug-in has a bit more zip than the hydrogen-burner, with a combined 409 horsepower from its gas-electric hybrid system; it can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in under five seconds, the company said.

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/mercedes-benz-f-800-style-concept-to-showcase-green-technologies/