SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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The glide electric: 2017 Mercedes-Benz C 350e

Righteous bragging rights

Posted: 13 November 2016

The numbers
Basic price: R804 900
Petrol engine: 1991 cc, four cylinder, turbopetrol
Power: 155 kW at 5500 rpm
Torque: 350 Nm between 1200 and 4000 rpm
Electric motor: 60 kW and 340 Nm
Maximum system output: 205 kW and 600 Nm
Zero to 100 km/h: 5.9 seconds
Maximum speed (governed): 250 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 9.2 l/100 km
Tank: 50 litres
Luggage: 335 litres
Warranty and maintenance: 6 years / 100 000 km

Like beer and French champagne, hybrid cars are an acquired taste. With the liquids, you persevere until you learn to like them. Hybrid cars, on the other hand, are usually favoured by those who like to be seen doing the right thing.

I will probably own an electric car one day; when bugs have been eliminated, batteries give decent range and primary pollution concerns have been addressed. But hybrids? I’m not convinced. Not yet.

Mercedes-Benz’s C350e plug-in hybrid is a step in the right direction, however. Take the top of range (excluding AMGs) C300, detune it slightly, then add a 60-kilowatt, 340-Newton-metre, electric motor with change-over gearbox and you have a luxurious car with excellent performance. It's good for righteous bragging rights at cocktail parties too.

Apart from recharging itself while coasting, braking and under engine power, it can also be plugged into your household mains for top-ups. These take two to three hours. Some competitors can too, but while the C350e can hum along at 130 km/h in electric mode, most others can’t go over 60 on battery alone.

Claimed maximum range on a full charge is 31 kilometres but that depends on how heavily your foot weighs on the “haptic” (it provides feedback) accelerator pedal. Unless you’re out to prove a point, you’ll probably get much less than that before being reverted to petrol power. The water cooled battery pack, fitted below the floor, weighs 100 kg and steals 145 litres of boot depth but you are still left with 335. Its 60:40-split rear seatbacks fold flat to provide more volume if needed.

Mercedes-Benz evidently used the all-electric cruising range to advantage in establishing C350e’s official average fuel consumption of 2.1 l/100 km and carbon dioxide output of 65 grams per kilometre. It is therefore exempt from our local CO2 tax.

As expected, standard equipment is extensive. It provides four distinct transmission modes (Eco, Comfort, Sport and Sport+) and an Individual menu that allows some choices in drive system, chassis dynamics, steering response, eco assistance and climate control. Then there are the operating profiles; Hybrid (balanced), E (purely electric), E Save that conserves battery power as much as possible and Charge that does just what it says.

Standard trim level is Avantgarde, with Exclusive or AMG Lines available optionally. Suspension is Airmatic for maximum comfort, self-levelling and optimum road holding. A 7G-Tronic Plus automatic ‘box incorporates the electric motor and an additional clutch between it and the combustion engine. When driving in all-electric mode, it decouples the petrol motor from the drive train.

M-B says the best strategy for efficient operation is anticipatory driving. If an exact destination is known and the relevant data entered into the navigation system, charge and discharge of the Lithium-Ion battery is controlled to ensure optimal use of energy along the way.  Also key is that one should, if possible, reach urban areas with a fully charged battery so the vehicle can be driven most efficiently in stop-and-go traffic.

Standard safety kit offers seven (optionally nine) airbags, Attention Assist, Collision Prevention Assist Plus, comfort direct steering, rain sensing wipers, cruise control with speed limiter, tyre pressure monitoring, agility control suspension and run-flat tyres.

This is a top-of-line Mercedes-Benz with all that implies in terms of comfort, safety, performance, class and almost limitless options. But I am still not completely convinced; the C300 performs as well, has both bigger boot and fuel tank, is lighter with 100kg less tail mass, gets much the same real life fuel economy and sells for almost R200 000 less.

I’ll take the money, thanks, and avoid pretentious cocktail parties.

Test unit from MBSA press fleet

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What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

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Comments?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.

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