Fully Electric Line-Up by 2030 in Singapore is Possible, Mercedes CEO says
The crowd favourite, brand-new Mercedes C-Class was previewed to the media and customers this week, and the common theme among all variants offered? Electrification, or at least some form of it.
Claudius Steinhoff, President & CEO of Daimler South East Asia/Mercedes-Benz Singapore, thinks it is ‘possible’ that it would be selling a fully-electric line-up by 2030 in Singapore, a market it considers to be more ‘ready’ in terms of having a charging infrastructure in place. The C-Class, a best-seller of the brand, is an important model to pave the way for this to happen, with the W205 predecessor shifting over 2.5 million units in some seven years.
At launch, the C180/200 Avantgarde and C180/200 AMG Line will be offered, the Avantgarde trim now being entry-level, if you could call it that. All cars will come very well-equipped, with standard equipment including LED headlamps, memory seats, the new-fangled MBUX system first seen in the S-Class and Mercedes me connected services. They will all have a four-link axle at the front and a multi-link axle at the rear, and for the PHEV and Estates, rear air suspension as standard for weight compensation.
The AMG Line adds a 360-degree camera, larger 19-inch wheels, augmented reality navigation and most interestingly, rear-axle steering (latter just for the C200 AMG Line) - something that you don’t really see in this class of car very often. With a 0-100 km/h acceleration figure of 7.3 seconds, the C200 AMG Line seems to be an compelling proposition for keen drivers. It’s probably no coincidence as Mercedes emphasised ‘sportiness’ as a key focus for the W206.
At the most basic level of electrification, all W206s will come with 48V mild hybrid technology and an integrated starter-generator (ISG). This adds additional output of up to 20 hp and 200 Nm. We say ‘up to’ because it isn’t just a matter of adding this figure to the output of the petrol engine to get the total figure. In any case, it’s a significant boost and more so in the upcoming C300e (not yet launched) which will have an e-motor adding up to 128 hp and 440 Nm for an all-electric range of ~100 km (WLTP). And unlike many competitors, Mercedes developed its batteries in-house.
Prices for the new C-Class start from $247,888, with models available at launch currently priced at:
Mercedes-Benz C180 AMG Line: $255,888
Mercedes-Benz C200 AVANTGARDE: $279,888
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