First Drive: Mercedes-Benz C Class C350e 4dr Auto - Top Gear
It’s the C350e, the second car in a 10-vehicle plug-in line-up that Mercedes will unleash on the world between now and 2017. Headlined, perhaps unwisely, by M-B as its Hybrid Offensive, this attack on the plug-in market started with the S Class... It’s mostly targeted at the US, where hybrids not diesels are the preferred fuel-saving engine. The first bit is that, as part of its re-naming of all the models and derivatives, Mercedes has stopped shouting that it’s hybrids are PLUG-IN HYBRIDs and instead just given them an ‘e’ badge. By mating a 2. 0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine to a 60kW electric motor, then adding a list of other refinements that offer a high level of complexity. You don’t so much drive the C350e as pilot it. Apart from the five transmission modes there is also a choice of four operating rules that allow the driver to choose the level of the electric motor’s intervention. The car talks to you via the new haptic feedback throttle pedal. In the same way lane departure warnings buzz the seat and pulse the steering wheel if you get offline, or don’t see a car in your blind spot, the C350e’s pedal gives you feedback on how to save fuel. In electric-only mode it builds pedal resistance when you are about to summon the petrol engine. Source: www.topgear.com
