Mercedes-Benz F-Cell caught in the wild

The F-Cell has its drivetrain under the floorboards.

(Credit: Mercedes-Benz)

That first generation of F-Cell has a range of 110 miles, and seemed to have no problem negotiating the steep hills where we found it. In contrast, our 12 cylinder Aston Martin was burning gas at around 15 mpg, and would ultimately show a range of about 225 miles in our driving.

Mercedes-Benz has a new generation of the F-Cell vehicle in testing right now, based on the bigger B-class platform. It uses new materials technology for its hydrogen tanks to hold 10,000 psi, giving the car a range of 250 miles. Its electric motor is rated at 136 horsepower and 215 pound-feet of torque, although the fuel cell output is only 108 horsepower.

Fuel cell vehicles are basically electric vehicles that use hydrogen tanks rather than batteries for energy storage. With current technology, fuel cell cars tend to have greater range than pure electric cars. Hydrogen tanks are lighter than big battery packs and take much less time to fill. However, electric cars have the advantage of an existing charging infrastructure--a hydrogen station infrastructure has yet to be built.

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