Although Mercedes-Benz Australia believes its first plug-in hybrid attempt in 2015 wasn't too far ahead of its time, the electric-only driving range was too short.
Releasing a plug-in hybrid vehicle 10 years ago when there was low demand was not “too early” according to a Mercedes-Benz Australia executive, although the brand concedes the limited driving range was a problem.
In 2015, the car maker launched the C350e locally, replaced by the C300e four years later. But the latter was axed from the range in 2021 after just two years on sale.
The early Mercedes plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) were only capable of around 30km of electric-only driving range, while the freshly launched GLC350e and C350e offer 104km and 132km, respectively.
Speaking with the media at the launch of the new GLC350e and C350e, Director of Sales, Johannes Schoen, said the increase in driving range between the last C-class PHEV and the new one has made it a more realistic purchase for most people.
“It is very different [now], the technology has advanced, where it probably makes a lot more sense for more people. Demand was low; demand has increased,” he said.
“It was not really [too early], because that may have suited someone's lifestyle, but it did limit the market. Something like this opens up the market dramatically.
“I think [most people] drive something like 60 kilometres a day. So realistically, you can drive a C350e or a GLC350e now to and from work [on electric].”
According to Schoen, more still needs to be done to educate buyers about how plug-in hybrids work, particularly cars like the C350e and GLC350e, which have more advanced adaptive battery regeneration through the brakes.
“It's about training first of all our sales staff and product experts who are able to educate the customer. Obviously, we have all the material online as well,” he said.
“[The regen] is something unique where basically the car reacts to the traffic conditions and then recuperates and brakes for you.”
“There are a lot of people who may have bought a plug-in hybrid, let's say five or 10 years ago, who didn't realise they bought a plug-in hybrid. But a lot of customers who are buying them now know they’re buying it, they’re making a conscious choice,” a Mercedes-Benz spokesperson added.
“We're not trying to convert people from petrol to plug-in hybrid. It's about giving customers the choice.”
Asked whether the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), which sets emissions targets for car manufacturers, dictates which vehicles are brought to our market, Schoen said no; it’s driven by consumer demand.
“Ultimately, any sort of electrification will assist [in meeting targets], but this is driven by customer demand that we see coming in the future. The priority for us is to anticipate what people are asking for and the lifestyle choices that are coming,” he said.
“So if we see the demand, we are quite fortunate where we can be nimble with our choices in our product portfolio. And that's exactly what we've done here. This is our third plug-in hybrid this year, and we have more electrified and plug-in hybrid vehicles coming.”
“We'll see which other plug-in hybrids become available to us,” added Schoen. “We’ve got the new fully-electric CLA next year, but we'll see what else becomes available to us and if it makes sense, we'll definitely be at the top of the list.”
For the first time in the Mercedes-Benz line-up, a plug-in hybrid model has achieved price parity with its petrol-only equivalent, too.
The C350e has the same engine as the petrol C300, but it’s more powerful, uses less fuel, and comes with almost identical equipment levels, yet costs exactly the same at $98,200.
A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.
