C350e Hybrid Performance

ukredman

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Hi All

I recently took delivery of a new C350e (about 3 weeks ago) and wanted to hear of other C350e owners feedback. I think the car overall is great with lots of gadgets and a really nice drive, however am really disappointed with the hybrid performance. After charging the car on mains electricity I am getting about 13 miles on charge max and often when I start driving it drops to about 9 miles after about 30 seconds. I have also noticed this when using 'Charge' mode when driving also. I drove to the lake district this weekend and only managed to achieve 36mpg overall which is really disappointing especially as my 5 Series BMW gives me 55mpg. Anyone else experienced the same before I contact Mercedes?

Many thanks


Pete
 

Blobcat

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I can't comment on the Hybrid however it's very much dependent upon how and where your're driving that affects the economy. When I drive my E220 to and from work (4 miles each way) I get ~54 mpg and my 180 miles Monday commute I get 69-74 mpg. My wife had my car for a couple of weeks for the school and dance run and managed 35-36 mpg... She normally gets 25mpg from the Caravelle.

I very much doubt the hybrid will get anywhere near the claimed figure in anything other than ideal conditions. I can equal the claimed figure for my E220 because I set off at 04:15 and there are quite a few 50 mph average sections on the run and I set the cruise at 69 when in national motorway limits.
 
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ukredman

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hi blobcat

I wouldnt say I drove erratically to get 36mpg and that is what I would have benchmarked my bmw mgp against which would be in the region of 55mpg for the same journey. I must admit though I am disappointed with the hybrid performance and am wondering if this is new technology for mercedes in comparison to the likes of lexus and bmw (i8). I love the car but economically I think i would prefer a C class diesel instead of the hybrid only because of the limited charge on the batteries I am getting. My car was delayed for delivery for a few months because of the engine and am now wondering whether this was related :rolleyes:
 

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hi blobcat

I wouldnt say I drove erratically to get 36mpg and that is what I would have benchmarked my bmw mgp against which would be in the region of 55mpg for the same journey. I must admit though I am disappointed with the hybrid performance and am wondering if this is new technology for mercedes in comparison to the likes of lexus and bmw (i8). I love the car but economically I think i would prefer a C class diesel instead of the hybrid only because of the limited charge on the batteries I am getting. My car was delayed for delivery for a few months because of the engine and am now wondering whether this was related :rolleyes:
They've stopped the E Class hybrid as I understand they couldn't get it to work correctly, there were quite a few members on here that had them. I don't think any had a particularly good experience with one. I almost got one last time around but went for a 520 BM instead. My new E220 is much better than either E300 Hybrid I tried or the 520 BM.
 

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Hi Pete

Autocar (weekly) did a review of the C350E recently (5/10/16 page 34) and their main critisism, was the lack of range on battery only (they achieved around 12 miles - mix of town and country roads, against MB figure of 19 miles). They reckoned on a 50 mile commute, it should do around 50mpg (better results on short runs, taking advantage of the battery power), however, not bothering to charge the battery and driving enthusiastically, would likely result in low 30s.

Regards
Phil
 
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ukredman

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Hi Phil, Blobcat, thanks. I didnt see the autocar review but it sounds like the electiric range I am getting is the average. I do think hybrids are the way forward but I think mercedes have a bit of work to do in this area if they want it to take off. In my experience the hybrid is fine for short trips after you have charged the car but if your driving long distances then personally I would recommend a diesel.
 

phils

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That's what they more or less concluded in their review.

Regards
Phil
 

Alex M Grieve

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Sadly, I think you are right and an efficient diesel engine takes a bit of beating.

For purely electric cars, long journeys are unlikely to be feasible unless there is a major leap forward in battery technology. Imagine if 20 of us arrived at a rapid recharging point in say Carlisle en route to Scotland, and there were five rapid recharging points. Somebody is in for a leisurely lunch.

A study in the USA produced a coloured (colored?) map of the USA showing the carbon costs of electric car use across the States. It concluded that the most benefit is got in Wyoming - a State where journeys can be long and electric car use is minimal. In New York City, where electric cars would be really beneficial, the true carbon cost of the electricity provided there is higher than most places in the USA and kills the green credentials of such cars.

I have asked both Toyota and Lexus sales executives about the end of life of their batteries. No one gave a credible answer, but the party line seems to centre round "replace free of charge" through to "we have never had a battery fail".

I know that these examples move a step further than hybrids, but hybrid range on electricity does not seem to be all that good (Porsche advertise 30 miles), so a decent length commute in a day would tax their range - you would need a charging point at home and one at your workplace.

So, even as a 10,000 mile a year motorist (including some long journeys), I am sticking to diesel automatics for the time being. I don't doubt that the politicians have yet to show their hand on how much money they can make from diesel emissions following VW Dieselgate, but even allowing for that, the costs of changing cars away from diesel would be unlikely to exceed the costs of staying with diesel and bearing the pain - especially if diesel resale values went down and electric/hybrid prices went up.

What chance to we have?
 

John Laidlaw

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The main market for these cars are in company car mode, where the low CO2 and therefore BIK is a huge factor, making them extremely attractive. In reality their battery power and resultant MPG are generally poor.
In saying that I liked my. E300 Hybrid before it packed in! Regular 60mpg +
 

Blobcat

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I would have a Tesla (if I could afford one)
 

V6Matty

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+1 on that Russ,

the hybrid system on the Pug only lasts for about 3 miles of pure EV up to 40mph, at which point the diesel kicks in recharges and keep me going, since I bought the car back in Feb it's actually sitting steadily at 54.3 mpg which in my mind isn't bad at all, okay nothing like what's advertised but still a good amount.
 

umblecumbuz

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The in joke with my Cobra, when the Shelby model (427) first hit the streets many years ago, was to put a ten dollar bill on the passenger sun visor, and tell the passenger they could keep it if they could reach it before you hit 100mph from start.

Reckon the Tesla would easily top that now, and in four seat comfort and silence! As has been said - if battery technology takes a big step forward, the petrols, diesels and hybrids of today will look like kids amateur engineering by comparison.

Umble
 

JBell

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The in joke with my Cobra, when the Shelby model (427) first hit the streets many years ago, was to put a ten dollar bill on the passenger sun visor, and tell the passenger they could keep it if they could reach it before you hit 100mph from start.

Reckon the Tesla would easily top that now, and in four seat comfort and silence!

If you watch the last episode of Jay Lenos Garage on Dave he raced a Tesla with his own Cobra 427 running 660 bhp, it was all about cars of the future including a 3d printed car!!!!
 
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Hiixse

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Just joined forum....1st post.... I hope I've done it correctly!

I find the most disappointing thing about my 350e is fully charged I start at 16 miles electric range, before I'm off the driveway it's 14/15 and within a mile down the road it's often down to 9. It's only 1 year old so there shouldn't be anything wrong with the battery, but is this what you all experience?
 

350eMercMan

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Hi All

I recently took delivery of a new C350e (about 3 weeks ago) and wanted to hear of other C350e owners feedback. I think the car overall is great with lots of gadgets and a really nice drive, however am really disappointed with the hybrid performance. After charging the car on mains electricity I am getting about 13 miles on charge max and often when I start driving it drops to about 9 miles after about 30 seconds. I have also noticed this when using 'Charge' mode when driving also. I drove to the lake district this weekend and only managed to achieve 36mpg overall which is really disappointing especially as my 5 Series BMW gives me 55mpg. Anyone else experienced the same before I contact Mercedes?

Many thanks


Pete


Hi Pete

I bought a 66 plate 350e 6 months ago having previously had a 530d which was superb on diesel. I have exactly the same problems with the amount of time the battery lasts and can get 50 mpg on a motorway cruise. This weekend though the hybrid battery broke leaving me stranded for 2 hours in the middle of a 4 lane carriageway as it locks the gearbox when the hybrid battery brakes. (they are linked somehow). I am now wondering how efficient and reliable the electric side is and whether it was worth it? Fortunately it is under warranty otherwise it would be over £3k to replace the hybrid battery and the car is only 18 months old! I came on here to see if these problems are common and yours is the 1st post I have read.

Paul
 

350eMercMan

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Just joined forum....1st post.... I hope I've done it correctly!

I find the most disappointing thing about my 350e is fully charged I start at 16 miles electric range, before I'm off the driveway it's 14/15 and within a mile down the road it's often down to 9. It's only 1 year old so there shouldn't be anything wrong with the battery, but is this what you all experience?
 

350eMercMan

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I have a 66 plate 350e and have exactly the same problems with the battery.
 

tralalak

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Hi all, my electric range is the same as yours ~21km (13 miles). BUT it was not so low all the time!! I got mine in mid of 2015, it was the first one in the city, and the range then was around 29km (18 miles) - that number is in line with what MB claims to be the range. I am still using the same wheels, same tires, same roads, same driving style, same load, same temperature, all the same. Nothing changed on my side. So, my suspicion is that they did something to the configuration during one of the service interventions, because the decrease in range happened suddenly, not by a gradual degradation. It is also highly unlikely that all our batteries would degrade to the same level.

Charging the battery takes ~5.1 kWh from mains now (a precise meter installed on the plug). Taking into account ~10% which is the residual charge in the battery and ~85% charging efficiency, it charges only to level of ~4,9 kWh instead of the claimed 6.2 kWh capacity. Which would be the exact match for the achieved range. If 6.2 - 0.6 = 5.6 kWh would lead to 29 km in 2015, 4.9 - 0.6 = 4.3 kWh would lead to ~22km. That is pretty much what happens.

So the question is: Does something wrong happen when the battery is being charged to its full capacity? Does Mercedes secretly avoid this problem by decreasing the charge capacity by software. Are our batteries miraculously identically damaged?

I am definitely about to give some hard time to my dealer. Eventually I think I will sell this car and go away from MB if they do not provide a reasonable answer on why did my range degrade.
 


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