Mercedes-Benz has revealed that it plans on surpassing the 60 mile range with its next generation plug-in hybrids.
The move was revealed in a recent interview with Australia's Motoring at the Detroit auto show last week, when Thomas Weber, product chief for Mercedes, said that the company will bring 10 plug-in cars to the U.S. market by the end of 2017, Gas 2.0 reported. These vehicles will each have an electric only range of around 20 miles, which means a huge jump if the automaker aims past the 60 mile (100 kilometer) barrier.
"We are working on plug-in hybrid systems based on the S-Class technology for extended range," Weber said. "The next generation vehicle (due in 2017) will overcome the 30km to 50km hurdle and then the next generation after that will be 80 to 100km when they run as pure electric cars."
The interview follows after the German automaker said it will provide plug-in hybrid version of all of its high-volume vehicles by 2020, according to Green Car Reports. These vehicles will include the Mercedes-Benz S-Class large sedan, GLE-Class SUV and C-Class sedan.
The increase in range will happen in the second generation after the current models, as the increase from 30 to 50 km (19 to 31 miles), despite being a significant boost, isn't enough to make sure that plug-ins can cover a majority of their travels on electric power.
The boost to 60 miles will put Mercedes' next-generation models up against the current Chevrolet Volt, Gas 2.0 noted. If Mercedes stays true to its plans, it will be able to match the 2017 Volt in 2022.
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