Mercedes-Benz S-Class of Hybrids to be Launched
The third generation of the plug-in hybrid from Mercedes-Benz is due to be launched. The new S 560 e (combined fuel consumption: 2.6-2.5 l/100 km, combined CO2 emissions: 59-57 g/km, combined electrical consumption: 20.2-20.0 kWh/100 km)1 can be ordered from 10 October. The modified components and the intelligent powertrain management’s new anticipatory functions give the customer enhanced electric performance and, last but not least, added convenience thanks to faster charging times. In the luxury saloon - available exclusively with a long wheelbase (V 222) – the efficiency of the 9G-TRONIC plug-in-hybrid transmission and a new lithium-ion battery are good for an all-electric range of around 50 kilometres. The hybrid drive system in the S 560 e combines the 270 kW (367 hp) of the V6 petrol engine with 90 kW of EQ Power to deliver a maximum system output of up to 350 kW. The vehicle launch is scheduled for this month. Prices start at 96,065 euro2.
Plug-in hybrids are a key technology on the road to a locally emission-free future for the automobile. They offer customers the benefits
On 28th September 2018, I had the rare privilege of meeting in flesh and blood with Justice Monica Dongban –Mensem of the Court of Appeal .The meeting was my second. The first meeting was some ten years ago when as Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Lagos State Command, I was invited for the induction programme put together to honor selected Celebrities drawn from the entertainment industry ,the media and other rare Nigerians such as the Justice as a plank for raising the bar of the Corps public enlightenment campaign strategies in keeping with the United Nations Decade of Actions for road safety goals aimed at cutting down global road traffic crash fatalities by 50percent by 2020.As the anchor, I had the opportunity to flip through her dozzier to unravel the road she had travelled and to understand why she was engaged in a business reserved for people like us.I was therefore priviledged to hear first-hand, the tragedy that influenced her foray into safety.
The unique Celebrity Special Marshal concept,was conceived as a platform to utilize creative minds in driving the road safety awareness campaign programme in the country. The easy going Justice was one of the few honoured during the programme held at the Domme in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. It was at that programme that I listened as the Justice and a mother who in our parlance should be mourning ,choose a path of two worlds: in town they run in all-electric mode, while on long journeys they benefit from the range of the combustion engine. They make the vehicle more efficient overall because they can firstly recover energy and secondly allow the combustion engine to run in favourable operating ranges. Mercedes-Benz is driving forward with the development of its plug-in hybrids under the motto EQ Power.
The hybrid drive system in the S 560 e combines the 270 kW (367 hp) of the V6 petrol engine with an electric output of 90 kW. What’s more, its lithium-ion battery stores a lot more energy, giving it an all-electric range of around 50 kilometres. The new cell chemistry with lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt (Li-NMC) makes for a cell capacity of 37 Ah (previously 22 Ah). The highly efficient battery system in the S-Class comes, for the first time, from the wholly owned Daimler subsidiary Deutsche ACCUMOTIVE. The DC/DC converter previously housed separately in the luggage compartment is now installed in the power electronics housing. Despite an increase of around 50 percent in its energy content, the dimensions of the new battery are smaller than those of its predecessor. that is rarely taken by bereaved parents in our clime;a path taken by mothers such as Rochele Sobel, the brain behind the Association for safe International Road Travel( ASIRT) which she founded in 1995 in response to the death of Aron Sobel, her 25-year old son and medical school student who was killed in a bus crash in Turkey along with 22 other passengers from many countries.According to the report,the bus driver was said to be speeding down the wrong lane of a narrow, ill-maintained road with a sharp curve and no guard rail;a road that had long been on a government list of “black spots” in need of repair. Aron’s graduation from the University of Maryland Medical School would have taken place two weeks from the day he was killed in that avoidable road traffic crash.The traumatised Rochele choose to join the train of safety crusaders rather than wallow in pain.
The Justice perhaps was also conscious of the tragedy suffered by Candy Lightner, founder of mothers against drunk driving (MAAD) since 1980.MAAD seeks to stop drunk driving, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent underage drinking and strive for stricter impaired driving policy whether that impairment is caused by alcohol or any other drug. Like Rochele, Candy Lightner who founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) was equally driven ibto the crusade by the trauma suffered. She had three children. As captured by reports, a drunken driver rear-ended Candy Lightner’s car when her daughter Serena was 18 months old. The crash injured Serena. Six years later, an impaired driver ran over her son Travis. He had many broken bones and other injuries, was in a coma, and had permanent brain damage. The driver who injured him was impaired by tranquilizers when she ran over him. She also had no license. Yet she got no ticket.On May 3, 1980, Candy Lightner’s 13-year-old daughter, Cari, was walking in her residential neighborhood in Fair Oaks, California. She was on her way to a church carnival.Adrunken driver struck her from behind. He briefly passed out, came to, and drove off after having killed the young girl. The crash threw Cari’s body 125 feet and so badly mutilated her body that her organs were not donatable. The report further notes , that a repeat driving while intoxicated (DWI) or driving while impaired offender committed the crime. He was free on bail for a hit and run drunken driving crash only two days earlier. Killing Cari was his fifth offense in four years
These were the noble path she choose. So when I said it was rare, it wasn’t because I had a criminal case pending in her court but just my humble way of doffing my hat for what she has chosen to do in the fight against road traffic crash in the country. My recent meeting with her was at the occasion of the KWAPDA’AS ROAD SAFETY TRUST FUND programme held in Awka the Anambra State capital. I don’t know how much you know about her NGO but permit me to inform you that the NGO was inspired by the need to create a road safety awareness following the road traffic crash which occurred when a hit and run driver knocked down her law graduate son, Kwapda’as Rangnaan Samsom Dongban in Jos,the Plateau State Capital on 23rd Sept,2011. The young man was left in the pool of his own blood as passersby willing to take him to the hospital were afraid of what security men would do to them thus compounding the golden hour needed to save his life. By the time he was finally taken to the hospital, it was too late as he had died as a result of too much bleeding. She therefore set up the foundation in 2011 after he was buried to stop the needless loss of life.
Her son’s death reminds one of similar tragic incidences such as that involving the late media guru Dimgba Igwe, among others. Amore recent story which occurred a fortnight ago is that of one of my junior staff who almost lost his life when a reckless motorcycle rider crashed onto him while waiting for a vehicle to convey him home after the day’s works. The young man ended with series of injuries including a swollen eye, head injury while the passenger of the bike sustained more serious injuries caused by the recklessness of the rider who in the new found mad driving among this group was driving against the flow of traffic in the outskirt of Abuja,in the Federal Capital Territory.