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BMW and Audi may have beat it out of the gate in the race to get environmentally-friendly, but automaker Mercedes-Benz claims that it is still in the contest and will later if not sooner beat its fellow German rivals to the greener finish line.
To make this a reality, Mercedes will be offering a line up of fuel-saving vehicles. Expected to be released in September, these cars will feature a "start-stop" technology rather than hybrid to save gas. For those not in the know, the system automatically turns the engine off when the vehicle is at a dead stop and restarts it when the driver steps on the accelerator.
The start-stop system being used by Mercedes is similar to a system on some BMW cars. According to reports, Valeo will be supplying Mercedes-Benz with the belt-driven start-stop system. The company will install the new technology on its A and B-Class cars.
Details on its larger vehicles and technology, such as the "ISG System", can be found at eGMCarTech. Our take? It is truly amazing what these companies come up with to assure better gas mileage. We guess the old adage, "necessity is the mother of invention" holds true once again. What's the necessity? The CAFE numbers being considered by the U.S. Congress and pressure from the European Union to reduce gas consumption. Both make any car maker open to new, innovative ideas.
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