Zero-emission vans becoming increasingly widespread
Full-function van for everyday operations
Up-to-the-minute powertrain engineering, powerful lithium-ion batteries
The Mercedes-Benz Vito E-CELL is celebrating yet another first showing: the first van with an electromotive drive system to be produced by a car manufacturer ex-factory is now visiting the roads outside Germany and Spain.
The Vito E-CELL will be on display at the Johannesburg International Motor Show on the Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicle stand in Hall 5 at the Nasrec showgrounds outside Johannesburg from 08 October to 14 October 2011.
“The Vito E-CELL, is now fully integrated into series production in Vitoria Spain, and represents a completely new phenomenon. The Vito range plays and important role in our Van portfolio and we want to keep our customers up-to-date with these exciting developments,” says Nicolette Lambrechts, Divisional Manager, Mercedes-Benz Vans.
“The technology found in the Vito E-CELL will be of particular interest to transport logistics and parcel delivery service industry, who will be able to have a number of practical demonstrations with our Vito E-CELL expert,” adds Lambrechts.
Emission-free vans are becoming increasingly widespread in everyday road traffic
Having been put to use so successfully in the city centres of Berlin, Stuttgart and Vitoria Spain, the Vito E-CELL is now set to prove its suitability for everyday applications in new markets.
Thanks to the Vito E-CELL, electromotively driven – and thus locally zero-emission, not to mention virtually silent – vans are now a reality in these streetscapes. Vitoria Spain is not just the production location for these electromotive vehicles – it is also their area of operation. Further customers in major European cities will be taking delivery of their Vito E-CELL vehicles over the coming months.
Vito E-CELL: full-function van for everyday operations
The Vito E-CELL is not an experimental vehicle – it is a full-function van for day-to-day applications. It is the first van of its kind to roll off the series-production line, just like any other Vito. In close consultation with its customers, Mercedes-Benz has implemented the prerequisites for an electromotively driven van: with a payload of around 900 kilograms plus a load compartment with no restrictions on use whatsoever, the Vito E-CELL assumes all the usual transportation duties of any vehicle in its class.
Up-to-the-minute powertrain engineering, powerful lithium-ion batteries
The Vito E-CELL’s batteries are stored in a space-saving manner beneath the load-compartment floor. They are state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries which are particularly powerful and have a high current capacity.
They have an overall capacity of 36 kWh, sufficient for a range of some 130 kilometres. This means that the Vito E-CELL meets the average customer requirements for vans – around 50 to 80 kilometres per day – and still has a generous reserve.
The Vito E-CELL’s electric motor has an output of 60 kW and a torque of 280 Nm. As the full torque is available right from the start in the case of electric motors, the Vito E-CELL boasts a dynamic performance at the same high level as the latest diesel engines.
Taking into consideration the Vito E-CELL’s usual area of operation and to facilitate the highest battery range possible, the van’s top speed is limited to 80 km/h.
Following on from the initial series of 100 Mercedes-Benz Vito E-CELL vehicles which are now out and about in Berlin, Stuttgart and Vitoria, manufacture of the next series – encompassing over 2000 units – has now begun.
