Mercedes Diesel Hybrid Travels 1223 Miles Non-Stop On A Single Tank

A Mercedes-Benz E-class driven by Autocar’s senior contributing writer Andrew Frankel has driven non-stop from Africa to the UK on one tank of fuel.

The British-registered Mercedes-Benz E300 BlueTEC Hybrid started from Tangier in Northern Africa and arrived at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 27 hours later, having covered a total of 1223 miles.
Frankel, who shared time behind the wheel with a relief driver, visited two continents, four countries and three time zones on his journey, where he had to eke the full potential out of the hybrid’s 201bhp diesel engine and 27bhp electric motor.

During the course of the journey Frankel encountered heavy rain, intense heat, rush-hour traffic jams and dramatic elevation changes – providing a real challenge to the aim of travelling from Africa to the UK without the need to fill up.


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Agent009 - 6/27/2014 10:46:25 AM

+1 Boost

1223 Miles? exactly why the Germans in general didn't bother with gasoline diesels. Their strength was diesel technology and hybrids had to catch up where the two could be combined.

MattDarringer - 6/27/2014 6:29:06 PM

+1 Boost

@Agent009 LOL I cannot wait to hear from the guy who calls you oh oh whine when he makes fun of you for your typo "gasoline diesels" instead of "gasoline hybrids"...this should be fun.

I wish VW would do a diesel hybrid sized and priced like a Prius.

nguyenvuminh - 6/27/2014 4:16:49 PM

+1 Boost

Europeans (including Ford) have their strength in diesel and small engine. Japanese (Toyota and Honda primarily) have their strength in hybrid, and small engine. Seems like only we Americans and the Koreans don't have a unique strength in future fuel-saving technology. Don't get me wrong, we have our own Americana-iconic cars and the Koreans have their feature-rich angle, but not sure whether these things can overcome market's down cycle.

85bmw745i - 6/29/2014 2:19:45 AM

+1 Boost

Why don't automakers offer diesel hybrids? they would do so much better on the highway and overall than a gasoline hybrid.