Green Focus: Hybrid Car - Mercedes-Benz E400

The Mercedes-Benz E400 is the hybrid version of the fuel driven E-class midsize sedan. It is basically the same but uses both a fuel engine and an electric motor. The engine inside is a E350 3.5 liter V6 as well as a brushless electric motor and a 0.8 kWh lithium ion battery. The total combined output is rated at 329 hp. This will get the hybrid from 0-96 kph in 6.7 seconds. The vehicle has a seven speed automatic transmission and uses an automatic start - stop system. This eliminates fuel consumption and emissions when the vehicle is at a standstill. The battery gets back lost energy with the use of regenerative braking. The hybrid components are cleverly located so that no cabin or boot space is lost. In the city the vehicle will give you 38kph. While travelling on the highway it will give you 48kph and a combined kph of 41. Some of the standard features that you will find included in the vehicle is power adjustable front seats, dual zone climate control, leatherette upholstery and a am/fm/cd/dvd entertainment system. There are 2 premium packages that you can get. In the Premium 1 package you will get a navigation system with 10gb of storage space and Sirius XM traffic.. Also heated front seats, a rearview camera, satellite radio plus a power rear window shade and an active multicontour drivers seat. In the Premium 2 package you will get all the features of the Premium 1 package plus an electronic boot closer, bi-xenon headlights with active curve illumination with a headlamp cleaning system and active high beam assist. You will also get a proximity key system. Some of the safety features of the vehicles include 2 two-stage front airbags along with a knee airbag for the driver. Other airbags include ones for the pelvic as well as curtain and side impact for added protection. There is also a system to alert the driver in the case of drowsiness. A sensor located in the steering wheel is linked to smart software that analyses the first 20 minutes of driving. When travelling between 80 and 180 kph, the system will identify erratic steering corrections and then issue an audible warning with a coffee cup icon appearing in the instrument display. This is called Attention Assist system. The lane tracking package includes blind spot assist. This monitors both blind spots and also to the side of the vehicle. This works by alerting the driver if a vehicle in the blind spots activates their turn signals. If car rental companies in major cities, like Sydney do start to move their fleets to vehicles which are a hybrid or all electric like the  then this would reduce their carbon footprint as well as helping to reduce their maintenance costs for their fleets and the need to refuel their vehicles. This would also reduce the cost for car rental in Sydney.